Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
by Kjirstyn
Summary: Chapter 8 finally up! Just a warning, this is the last chapter I'm posting, because 5th year fics are AU now, and I don't like writing that. So-- just for those that are interested, here is chapter 8!
1. Harry's Victory

OK everyone, my second fanfic ever! The first one got deleted off my computer and I'm not about to start it over so I'm writing a new one! To any old fans I have—here's my new story, hope you enjoy it too! To new fans yet to come—read on, read on!  
  
Disclaimers: Yes, they're all JK's. I'm not claiming anything but the story-line.  
  
  
  
Harry turned over in his sleep, still not quite awake from the awful nightmare he was having. Even as wakefulness claimed him, the dream disappeared from his memory, like fog hit by sun. He sat up groggily and reached for his glasses. They weren't there. He reached around for them, still not quite awake. When his hand hit the bedside lamp, he jerked awake. "Where are my glasses?" He thought subconsciously. Back in reality, he smacked his forehead with his hand. 'Duh." He thought disgustedly. "I got contacts two weeks ago." He jumped out of bed, landing bare footed on the rug by his bed. He headed for the bathroom to "put his eyes in" and take a shower. He grabbed some clothes and tiptoed out the door. He sure didn't want to wake the Dursleys up this early on a Saturday. His plan was to get ready, chow down his breakfast, and do some exercising and running before the Dursleys were even awake enough to remember he existed.  
  
He took a quick shower, washing his hair and reveling in the hot water. As he toweled off in front of the mirror, he glanced at his hair and groaned quietly. It was getting WAY too long and he needed a haircut. Problem was, the Dursleys wouldn't spring for it if he flat-out asked them, and he had no muggle money. The fact that his Gringotts account was overflowing with wizard money was no help to him.  
  
As he wrapped his towel around his waste and reached for his shirt, he caught a glimpse of himself that startled him. His whole torso. It was white. And muscleless. He looked at his legs. They were the same way. He groaned inwardly. Of COURSE he wouldn't be musclely. Flying on a broom was the only activity he engaged in all year long. It was no surprise that he was still so skinny. And wearing ankle length robes all year sure didn't help his tan any. He would have to fix that somehow. There was a pool downtown, he knew. It was a couple miles to get there. Maybe if he ran there every morning, and swam and tanned all day… Yeah, that might just work. Only problem was, he needed swimming trunks, and a membership to the pool would be good too, since he had no money to pay his way in every time he visited. He knew the Dursleys had a membership although none of them ever used it. Maybe he could use Dudley's card. As for the trunks—he was sure he could figure out some way to get those. Manipulating Vernon came to mind.  
  
Putting the matter out of his head for the time being, he headed downstairs to make a quick breakfast and then outside. On the lawn he began a series of exercises that he figured would help him run. Most of them he'd learned in middle school- the rest just seemed like common sense.  
  
When he felt that he had warmed up enough he started jogging slowly towards town. He knew that if he ran too fast he'd feel like dying by the time he actually made it there. Still, with his slow pace, he was winded and his legs were worn out by the time he made it to town. He walked, panting, over to the pool. The sign on the fence- that would be most of the info he needed. (A/N: Sorry, I don't have any idea how to work with pounds and pence and stuff so I'm using dollars and cents.)  
  
1 LITTLE WHINGING COMMUNITY POOL  
  
Memberships Available  
  
Monthly Membership: $18 (1 person)  
  
Monthly Membership: $40 (2 or more people)  
  
Yearly Membership: $150 (1 person)  
  
Yearly Membership: $320 (2 or more people)  
  
Or if you want to come whenever:  
  
$2 per person per visit  
  
HOURS: Monday- Saturday 8am- 9pm  
  
Closed Sundays  
  
Open most holidays- exceptions will be posted  
  
'This doesn't look too bad,' Harry thought. He was sure he could figure out some way to twist with Vernon's mind. Knowing how the man's mind worked was a definite advantage. He could use that against him easily.  
  
He turned back to the street, breathing easier now. He wasn't looking forward to the run back home and yet he knew he must, both to build his stamina up and to get started on his inevitable argument with Vernon.  
  
Half an hour later he stumbled into the front hall, gasping slightly, and sweat running down his back. The family was up, if the sounds from the kitchen meant anything. He cautiously made his way into the room. Vernon was reading the paper, eating absentmindedly with his left hand. Dudley wasn't sulking exactly, but he didn't look happy with his breakfast of fruit and orange juice. Harry settled in, planning on a second breakfast. His earlier run had given him a heck of an appetite. Vernon looked up, and got a nasty look on his face and opened his mouth to say something, but Harry beat him to it.  
  
"Uncle Vernon, I was thinking—I'd like to get a membership at the community pool this summer." Uncle Vernon looked at him oddly- Harry had never really asked him for something before, not like this. He wasn't sure how to react.  
  
"A membership?" He said skeptically. "What would you need with a membership?"  
  
"Well I don't have anything better to do this summer so I just figured that would be a good alternative. It's not a long walk. Only a couple miles. You wouldn't have to go out of your way any."  
  
"Oh wouldn't I? It's my money paying for that membership young man."  
  
"Oh come off it. Dudley never uses his. Just let me use it. It's not picture ID or anything."  
  
"Just what is wrong with being bored? You did that last summer, and the one before and the one before… why should you get to do anything more?"  
  
"Because I am completely sick of boring summers. If I can't go down to the pool every day than I am going to have some friends over, no question. You can't stop me. Ron lives too far away but I'm sure Hermione could come."  
  
"You aren't inviting ANY females over without my say young man." Vernon shot back.  
  
"Fine then, I'll invite Sirius. I'm sure he could use some excitement in his life other than fleeing from the wizard police."  
  
"All right, you invite—wait a minute- Sirius? That murderer? Your godfather?"  
  
"The one and only." Harry grinned cheekily at him, sure that things would go his way now.  
  
"You- you can't!" Vernon gasped.  
  
"Oh couldn't I?'  
  
"I won't let you!"  
  
"What's going to stop me? Sirius is out of school- he can use magic without getting in trouble. Should I just ask him to perform a little magic for you…?"  
  
"No, no, that won't be necessary," Vernon said hastily. "You can use Dudley's membership. That'll be fine. Just don't expect me to drive you in every morning."  
  
"I already told you I'd be walking." Harry responded coldly. Honestly, these stupid muggles…  
  
"Well, do whatever. Just stay out of our way."  
  
"Sure, Uncle Vernon," Harry smirked. He finished clearing his plate and bolted for the stairs, only turning around once to remind his uncle,  
  
"Hey, I'll need that membership card ASAP. I'm planning on going tomorrow. And I'll need some money for trunks too. I don't think Dudley's old ones would stay on."  
  
"All RIGHT boy! Get out of my sight!" Vernon said exasperatedly. "I'll leave the card and some money on the counter tomorrow morning. The store's only a few blocks from the pool."  
  
"Thank you SO much for you kindness," Harry said sarcastically, turning around and heading to his room.  
  
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Well, that's the first chapter, done! I like it, actually, I think Vernon and Harry's little spat is hilarious if you're in the right mood. Which I am. Hope you all were too—read and review please!!! --Kjirstyn 


	2. Congenial Dursleys

All right everyone- here is the long awaited second chapter!!!! claps hands with glee It's the same length as the last one- I think all chapters will be about this long so just—keep coming back! I'll update it as fast as possible!!!  
  
  
  
The next morning Harry came down to the kitchen holding his socks and shoes, otherwise dressed for running, at 7 am. Vernon was upstairs showering, Petunia was at the stove cooking breakfast, and Dudley, presumably, was still sleeping.  
  
'Big surprise,' Harry though wryly as he pulled on his footwear. Dudley was great at the three things parents dreaded most in their children: sleeping to all hours of the day, eating enough for an army, and watching TV and playing computer. Of course, Vernon and Petunia didn't seem to care much, but they weren't exactly what you'd call great parents either.  
  
Petunia didn't turn around, although it was obvious she heard him moving, as he noticed her shoulders tense up slightly. 'All these years and I still affect her that way… 'he mused. 'Funny. Oh well, her loss.' He finished tying his running shoes and turned to speak to his aunt.  
  
"If it isn't too much trouble, could I possibly have some breakfast before I leave?"  
  
Tensed wasn't the word. Petunia's shoulders were clear up around her ears. She spoke without turning around.  
  
"Thought you'd just come down and demand food, hmm?"  
  
"No, I just—"  
  
"Well you can have it, but it isn't completely done, and you are in charge of cleaning up after yourself, is that clear?"  
  
"Yes, Aunt Petunia." Harry said, biting back a sigh. She could be SO annoying, and when he hadn't even done anything.  
  
He sat down to a breakfast of runny eggs, slightly pink sausage, and toast, which fortunately was done. He choked it down as fast as he could, then stood and walked over to the sink. He rinsed off his plate, silverware, and glass, placed them in the dishwasher to be washed, and headed outside, before remembering the conversation of the night before.  
  
"Aunt Petunia, did Uncle Vernon leave the money and membership card anywhere around here?"  
  
"Don't address me that way!" She snapped at him. He stared at her, surprised. He had always called her Aunt.  
  
"OK…" he answered, puzzled.  
  
"Just- just call me Petunia. And call your uncle Vernon. Don't worry about the titles and everything." She hardly looked at him as she mentioned this.  
  
"Um, sure, I guess…" Harry wasn't quite sure what to think. She'd never been like this before. "Well, did Un- I mean, Vernon leave that stuff around here?"  
  
"It's on the counter, over by the phone." She turned back to her morning paper and her own perfectly done food, proceeding to ignore him. He picked up the money—he counted it- there should be enough for some trunks—and looked at the membership card. Good, it wasn't expired. Dudley would never even notice he didn't have it at his disposal.  
  
At the front door, Harry picked up the mail from the slot, and as a gesture of good will, he carried it into the kitchen. He sorted through it as he walked, but finding nothing for him, he placed it on the table within easy reaching distance of her. Then he left for the pool.  
  
Out on the lawn, he did a few exercises, stretching his legs out one by one, in preparation his long run ahead of him. Finished stretching, he stood up, and began to jog, very slowly. He was incredibly out of shape, and was soon tired out. He slowed his pace to the slowest run possible, but kept running until he made it to the pool. He leaned against the sign, gasping for breath. He walked the rest of the way to the swimwear store to warm down.  
  
It was 8:30 by the time he walked through the door of the store. He looked around, a bit overwhelmed by all the selection. There were suits that looked like girl's suits—but they were embarrassingly skimpy. Not ever being allowed to go to pool parties as a child, he wasn't accustomed to seeing these things- and he was sure wizards never wore them. He wasn't sure there were even underwear in the wizarding world as skimpy as this. 'Oh well," he shrugged. He headed for the men's side of the store, which, thankfully, was a lot better covered.  
  
20 minutes later he walked out, happy with his choice of navy blue trunks with red trim in some places. He walked quickly the few blocks to the nearby pool. At the front counter, he showed his membership card and walked to the mens room, where he quickly changed into his swim trunks, giving his other clothes to the attendant for safekeeping. Then he headed to the pool.  
  
Thirty laps later, Harry jumped out of the pool—well, oozed, actually, he was so tired- and slouched over to the towel he had also bought earlier. He collapsed on it, face down, and fell asleep.  
  
Two hours later, he woke up. It was nearly noon, but he wasn't hungry. The pool was starting to get busier. People were swimming, laughing, and having fun. He was glad he had gotten his chair when he had. There weren't any left now. He jumped up, winced a little from his sore muscles, and jumped back in the pool to do another thirty laps.  
  
Half an hour later, he climbed out again, not quite as tired as he had been when he started. As he laid down again on his chair, he looked at his arms- the backs of them were a lot tanner than the front. 'What in the world…?' he thought. Then he remembered—his nap. Of course he would have tanned. Well, he was ready for a nap again- but this time he would take it on his back so the front of him would tan instead.  
  
Around four he was ready to go home. The sun was still quite hot, but the crowds had grown huge and it wasn't easy to find swimming space anymore. He stood up and picked his towel off of his chair. It was immediately taken by another person. He headed for the changing rooms.  
  
He was home by dinner-time. The scent of Chinese food was in the air- the Dursleys must have ordered take-out. He hoped there was some left.  
  
"I'm home," he called as he came in, not really expecting a reply. There was none, other than the unmistakable sounds of cutlery and plates in the other room. He walked into the kitchen, where, he found, the Dursleys were not yet eating, but just dishing up their food. He got a plate from the cupboard and sat down at his place. The Dursleys said nothing to him, asking about his day or otherwise. They did talk rather loudly to one another though.  
  
"Those crazy people, I just can't figure out where they think they're coming from," Vernon was sputtering with disgust, spraying bits of food over the table. Harry helped himself to some chow mein, broccoli beef, and sweet and sour chicken.  
  
"They just haven't figured out that what they're doing is very obviously not normal!" Petunia huffed back at him. Harry had no idea who or what they were talking about. He spooned out some fried rice.  
  
"They're just stupid, that's all," Dudley threw in his two cents worth.  
  
"Too right, they are," Vernon growled. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let them swindle me out of my hard-earned money."  
  
"Just be firm with them and don't let them get away with it. Let them know who's boss," Petunia suggested. "People like them are just cowards. If you let them know you know what they're doing, they'll back off."  
  
"They'd better." Was Vernon's only answer. Harry still had less than half an idea what was going on here. He spoke up.  
  
"Um, Un- I mean, Vernon- who's doing what to you?" He was rewarded for his curiosity with a withering look, but he refused to back down.  
  
"Some swindlers at work. They're a new company we agreed to try out for delivering our products to our customers. They demand payment in advance. We thought it was a bit odd, but we agreed. Come to find out, they haven't been delivering anything, just reaping the benefits, and our customers are spitting nails about it."  
  
"Erm.. wow." Harry wasn't quite sure what to say. For all their shortcomings, the Dursleys never lied or cheated, and they earned their money the hard way. It didn't seem fair for them to get cheated out of it like this. Out of nowhere, he asked,  
  
"Who's the head of it?" Vernon looked caught off guard.  
  
"Some chap named Mari- no May- no, Mason."  
  
"Mason?" Dudley inquired. "I remember him. He was that guy that Harry scared off a few years ago with that owl flying at his wife's head, remember?"  
  
"You don't suppose…?" Petunia said anxiously. Vernon looked thoughtful.  
  
"Could be. You know, I've never seen the fellow. Mason is a pretty common name, but it's the same business and all. I'll check into it. Atta boy Dudley. You know how crooks think, eh?" He seemed to have forgotten that Harry was the one who asked the question in the first place. On the other hand, the whole family was being almost—civil to him. That was a switch. Harry wondered what had brought this on. Maybe they were just mad about this Mason guy. He put the thought out of his head and finished his dinner.  
  
"Thank for dinner. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed now," Vernon looked up and said "All right then," and continued eating his supper.  
  
As Harry climbed into bed, feeling refreshed after his shower, he thought about his rather uneventful day. He was pretty sure that the running/swimming thing would get him into fine shape and get him quite tan as well, if today was any indication on the matter. Maybe he could get an evening job so he'd have a little money to spend too. Then his summer would be complete. He'd ask around in town a little bit about it tomorrow.  
  
  
  
  
  
******************************************************************  
  
So? So? How'd you like it? I took a whole evening out of my busy Saturday to write it just for you fans out there!! I'm a little disappointed—only two reviews—but I'm putting out more chapters so I want more reviews please! To Bubby-- thanks- and hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next one should be up soon! To Anon—here's the next chapter- hope you're getting hooked! Please READ AND REVIEW!!!! --Kjirstyn 


	3. Harry's New Job

Hey all! Here's the third chapter, hope you enjoy it! Thank you's at the bottom—This is testing week so you're lucky you got another chapter at all… Enjoy!  
  
Summary so far: Harry has begun his summer at the Dursleys right before 5th year. He has taken up swimming and running to improve his muscles and tan. The Dursleys have been uncharacteristically kind to Harry—is it just a fluke or is it something serious? Harry has also decided that he needs a job…  
  
The next morning, Harry got up and headed outside, dressed in his trunks a tshirt, and running shoes, holding his towel. As usual, Petunia was up again, cooking breakfast, which was pancakes, judging by the griddle on the counter. He took a place setting from the cupboard, and got out the peanut butter and syrup to eat them with. When he was done, Petunia was setting a plate of steaming cakes on the table. They sat down together, without saying anything, and proceeded to eat.  
  
"So…" Harry said, trying to keep things friendly. "What are you planning on doing today?"  
  
"Why should you care?" His aunt snapped back. It seemed that the friendly bout from the night before had abruptly ended. Harry didn't completely mind. He was much more experienced on dealing with animosity rather than friendliness from the Dursleys. They continued eating in silence. Harry finally broke it.  
  
"Erm… these are really good pancakes." They were sourdough, which were really quite tasty. Harry was enjoying them, although not quite as much with the current company. Petunia seemed to be struggling within herself, finally coming out with a short,  
  
"Thank you." It was something, anyway, Harry thought. He stood up from the table.  
  
"I'll be back later tonight because I'm going to be looking for a job, just so you won't be wondering. I should be home around seven." His aunt acknowledged this statement with a curt nod. Harry scraped off his plate and loaded it into the dishwasher, then left.  
  
After swimming that day, he turned right instead of left, taking him into the small town nearby. He wasn't quite sure how to go about finding a job, but it shouldn't be too hard. He stopped at the video store first. He stepped up to the front counter. To his relief, the man behind it was wearing a tag that read "Manager."  
  
"Excuse me," Harry said politely, disrupting the man from the videos he was sorting through. The man looked up. He seemed friendly enough, and Harry took heart.  
  
"I was looking around for a summer job. Do you have one I could take- or do you know anyone who does?" The man appraised him for a minute. He seemed to approve, because his next words were good.  
  
"Wall, ah hain't rightly thought 'bout ait, but now that ah do—ah spose ah could use same haylp. Ah run this here place by mahself, and ait's doin darn way-ull lately, and ait'd be nice ta have some tahm at home wi' the family. How old did ya say ya were?" He was very obviously not from England, more like Texas or Lousiana. Some kind of southern accent. It wasn't altogether unpleasant to listen to, and was actually a nice change from the droll British accent everyone around this place had. Harry came back to earth abruptly, noticing that the man was looking at him curiously.  
  
"Oh, excuse me. I'm 15 next month. Is that too young?" He said, starting to get anxious. He'd never thought about age requirements.  
  
"Nah, ah spose ait'll do ah-ight. Don't thank thare's much o' any law round herebouts on that." (A/N Sorry, I have NO idea of the legal status of my state on that, much less a country overseas.) "Say, sonny, wot's yer name?"  
  
"I'm Harry- Harry Potter. I live on Privet Drive."  
  
"Way-ull, glad ter meet ya, Hay Po'er. The name's Bud. Just Bud. Don't hold any with last nay-ums although this here gov'ment seems ta like 'em right way-ull." Harry grinned. This guy would be easy to work for, and fun to be around.  
  
"Now that way've got all thay-at figgered out—what're ya looking for in terms o' payin'?" Harry was caught off guard again. He had virtually nothing figured out. He hoped this guy would be honest about paying him because he had no idea what the going rate was for kids his age.  
  
"Well—frankly, I have no idea." Harry said hesitantly. (A/N Once again, we're going with American money here— trying to get me to figure out how to convert pounds and all that correctly to money here is like trying to get a dog to figure out the solution to world peace.)  
  
"Minimum rate round here's 'bout $5.75 an hour, but ah thank ah'll round ait up ta an aven six. How's thay-at?" (A/N again: I'm going to stop doing the Lweezianna accent, k? It's a lot of work. Just imagine it from now on. ()  
  
"That sounds great sir, thanks a million! When do you want me to start?"  
  
"Well, today's Friday… why don't you start Monday? You can work evenings, so I can have supper with the wife and family. Got lots of them. Even got one your age you should meet sometime. Two, actually. Twins. Real nice kids they are. I'll bring em round some time. So- do evenings suit you?"  
  
"Yeah, that works great," Harry answered quickly. "I do exercising during the day- running and swimming- and then I have evenings free. So—what hours and what days?"  
  
"Well—as often as you can work, I guess. Six days a week OK?"  
  
"Mmm… yeah. That works."  
  
"OK, so Monday through Saturday, say- 6 to 11? That's when it closes. That's 30 bucks a day which is…" he did some fast mental arithmetic, "Hunnert and eighty a week. Minus taxes, that is since I do have to keep track of that stuff. I'll take care of that before I pay you though. Deal?"  
  
"Deal!" Harry said happily. A hundred and eighty bucks a week was a fortune compared to his usual earnings—zero. That was around seven hundred a month.  
  
"OK, well see ya Monday then. If you can, get here early and I'll show you the ropes. They're not too bad, but they take a little learning."  
  
"Right. Thanks a lot, Mister—Bud?"  
  
"Just Bud, boy."  
  
"Right," said Harry, grinning. "Thanks a lot, Bud. I'll see you Monday." He waved good-bye as he left, smiling to himself. He had a job! And a good paying one with a great boss. He couldn't wait to start work. He started thinking—what to do with all that money. Well, some new clothes would be nice, some that didn't sag on him like Dudley's old ones did. And he could probably buy several odds and ends that he'd like—but there was bound to still be some left over. Harry thought back… what was that, he knew he'd heard something… oh! At the Weasleys during his second summer. Mr. Weasley had mentioned to Mrs. Weasley that the goblins had recently upped the prices on exchanging muggle money for wizard money.  
  
"Of course," Harry thought out loud. "I could just trade it in at the end of the summer, what's left." Satisfied, and thoroughly tired after his long day, he jogged slowly the rest of the way home.  
  
When he got home, it was seven, just like he'd predicted. Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley were all in the den, watching the evening news and munching on popcorn. Harry quietly served himself a large serving of the leftover supper (lasagna) and carried it upstairs. He wasn't really in the mood to sit in a hard wooden chair, eating all alone. If he had to eat alone, he'd much rather it was on a comfortable bed.  
  
He flopped onto his bed, just barely missing the miniature owl that lay on his pillow. It let out a tiny squawk that actually sounded more like a *squick*, and gave Harry a most disrespectful look.  
  
"Now Pig," Harry scolded. "Is that any way to talk to your elders and betters?" In truth Harry had zero idea how old this little owl was, but he was fairly sure it wasn't nearly fifteen years old. The idea of a miniscule creature like this being on the earth for fifteen years was ludicrous, and Harry cracked a grin thinking about it.  
  
"All right…" he muttered, half to himself, and half to the clowning owl, which was hopping around the pillow with one leg out in front of him, emitting another *squick* with each hop. Harry chuckled and grabbed the tiny owl in mid-jump, effectively paralyzing him until the letter he was holding was out of his grasp. Mission accomplished, Harry dumped the owl on the bed and sat back to read his letter, lasagna forgotten and growing cold.  
  
Dear Harry, (the letter read)  
  
You know, it's really too bad that Dumbledore decided you can't visit us this summer. Despite my missing you, Hermione's coming after her trip to Bulgaria. Speaking of which—what'd you think about that? Is Krum going to try something, d'ya think? If he does, he'll be dead the minute I get my hands on him. BeWARE!!! ( Just kidding. Well, to an extent anyway. OK, enough prattling on about nonsense. Anyway, hope you survive the summer with the muggles, and I'll see you in Diagon Alley before school. We'll plan a day, K?  
  
TTYL-  
  
Ron  
  
"Well," Harry said, putting the letter down, and speaking to Pig without looking at him, "Looks like Ron has his summer planned. Hermione's visiting, is she?" He smirked. "Maybe it's better anyway that I couldn't go. Maybe those two'll finally get it together. They sure argue enough—they'd be a great married cou-- PIG!!! Get away from that!" Pig, bored with the musings, had ceased his hopping and had sauntered- as only an owl can- over to Harry's plate, and had consumed nearly a fourth of what lay there on it.  
  
"You OWL!" Harry exclaimed. He wasn't mad, just a little disgusted that an owl had actually been eating his food, and now he had to go replenish it.  
  
"Shoo, get lost," Harry said, throwing the owl out the window. Pig still had a beak full of lasagna, so it took him a second, but he got the wind under his wings and started flying. Soon he was a speck in the distance. Harry went back downstairs to fill up his plate.  
  
An hour later, he was in bed, dead to the world.  
  
  
  
So whadja think? This actually didn't take me too long to do—I just got started and it kept rolling out—so lucky for you, you can expect the next chapter sometime before the week is over! To all you British people out there--- sorry, I haven't the faintest idea how to work with pounds and pence and all that- and I know even less about your government and how it runs—so bear with me!! I'm doing the best I can! Review review!!!  
  
Thanks to:  
  
Merlins wing—I don't know exactly how Harry's relationship with Parvarti will turn out. I'm a little tired of all the cliché pairings, which is why I'm trying this new angle.  
  
Leeva—OK, it's continued! Hope you like it.  
  
Bubby—Here's your third chapter!  
  
NYC Girl—it's here, chapter three! Hope you enjoy it! 


	4. First Day on the Job

The next few days until Harry's job started went fairly slow. Saturday he did his usual running and swimming. Sunday he slept in 'til around ten, then took a short run and watched TV the rest of the day. (The Dursleys were at some quilt show Petunia wanted to see.) Finally Monday rolled around, and Harry got up and ran to the pool. The day couldn't go fast enough, for him.  
  
FINally, five o clock came, and Harry jumped off of his chair where he had been tanning. He showered off and dressed in the clean clothes he had brought for his job. At 5:30 he walked into the video store. There was Bud, standing at the counter, looking like he hadn't moved from the place Harry had found him the previous week..  
  
"Hey Bud!" Harry called cheerfully as he walked in. Bud looked up.  
  
"Heya Harry! How's it hangin?" (A/N: I love Texas drawls. ()  
  
"It's goin alright. I showed up early so you can, um, how did you put it, "show me the ropes?" Bud grinned.  
  
"That's right. You're getting pretty good at this. You'll be mistaken for a native Texan if you go over to the USA."  
  
"Well thanks—I think. I'm planning on staying on this side of the Atlantic though." Bud laughed.  
  
"OK… your choice. But you're missing out, I tell ya. The US is a pretty cool place."  
  
"Maybe someday…" Harry wasn't quite sure what he thought of the idea. He walked over to the counter.  
  
'Well, maybe we should show you how things work around her and get some work done, whaddaya say?"  
  
"Erm.. sounds good."  
  
For the next half an hour, Bud took Harry around the store, showing him how to work the computer, how the videos were sorted and kept track of, what to do with new releases, and how to check them out and in. Harry tried everything and didn't have any problem with it. It was all fairly basic stuff. His favorite part, though, was the sound system Bud had installed. He could listen to whatever music he wanted to, and there was a big screen TV hooked up to it about 15 feet from the front counter, so Harry could pop in any movie he wanted and watch it during his free time. He saw several movies he wanted to watch. He didn't really like the action or thriller movies. He actually kind of liked the comedies and the romantic/comedy ones. He also liked some of the family ones. A few action ones caught his eye though; The Patriot, for one. And one scary one also: The Sixth Sense. For a magical person, that movie was bound to catch his attention. Well, for that matter, any scary one would, since they were mostly about ghosts and haunted houses and stuff. Finally Bud left, telling Harry,  
  
"I leave everything in your capable hands. I'll come back around 11 to show you how to close up the place. Don't blow it all up meanwhile, 'k?" He winked roguishly and left, leaving Harry grinning.  
  
There were several movies on the front counter by the computer that Bud had apparently been working on putting into the system. Harry took over where the work had left off, and soon had the several new ones in place on their shelves. (Serendipity, Holiday in the Sun, Training Day) Not wanting to slack off only half an hour after he arrived, Harry put himself to work sweeping the floor behind the counter. When he was about half done, the bell on the door jangled, signaling that someone had entered. Quickly leaning the broom against the counter, Harry did his best to look like he new exactly what he was doing and that he was old enough to be here, working. The customer, a younger woman with two young boys tagging along with her, went straight to the front counter.  
  
"Can I help you?" It was the first time Harry had said the words and there was a kind of thrill that went with them. He was actually working now. His first job. And he was going to do great.  
  
"Oh could you please?" The woman was obviously at the end of her rope. "These two," she indicated the two young boys, one pulling at her purse strap, the other wrapped around her leg and sitting on her foot, "have been running me ragged. I told them I'd get them a movie each to watch tonight, under the condition that they actually behave. Usually when I get them movies they're just glued to the TV, so I don't get them that often- but…" she trailed off. "I'd like to look for a movie for myself, and I only have a short amount of time- could you possibly pick out two kid- oriented movies for me?" Harry nodded.  
  
"Absolutely. That's what I'm here for. Did you have one in mind for yourself?" She shook her head.  
  
"No, I don't watch movies too often. I'm too busy but I have the next three days free since my kids are going to their dad's tomorrow morning, so I need something to do. I don't have a job right now, so…"  
  
"Wow, three days. OK, um… well, I'm new here, but I saw one movie you might like. It's about 11 hours long so it'd last you a long time— Have you ever read Anne of Green Gables?"  
  
"No—but it was my little sister's favorite book. She read that thing over and over again. There's a movie about it? I can't stand reading, it hurts my eyes, but if I could watch the movie, it'd be great. And my sister would be thrilled." The bell jangled again, but Harry ignored it- if the new customer needed help, he could wait.  
  
"Well, let me get it for you and a couple for your kids." He walked over to the children's section, picking two movies that looked suitable for young children. The two boys looked like they were about two and four, so maybe just a plain innocent one and then something a little older for the other boy. Quickly looking through the selection, he picked a Winnie the Pooh movie with some bad guys, (Heffalumps and woozles, to keep the older boy interested. Bad guys always thrilled little kids.) and flipped through the Disney ones quickly, looking for a good one. At length he chose Toy Story. He was sure the boys would like that. Every kid likes Buzz.  
  
Quickly grabbing the four movies that compiled the Anne story, he headed up to the front counter, where he found the young mother browsing through a rack of romance and comedy. She glanced up when Harry walked over, and a smile of relief filled her face.  
  
"Oh, thank you so mu- Johnny, put that down!- I really appreciate this. And I was looking through these movies and I found these-" she held up Kate and Leopold (A/N- I know that's not out yet but I LOVE that movie.) and Miss Congeniality- "and I think I'll rent them too. Have you seen them?" Harry shook his head.  
  
"No, but my boss has, and he said they're both really great movies. Funny but romantic. They're a couple of favorites. They should suit you well." She smiled.  
  
"Great. How much do I owe you?" Harry rang up the total on the computer in front of him.  
  
"Ten seventy-three. And let's see- Kate and Leopold is due in two days, but the others are all due Saturday, so take your time."  
  
"Thanks, I will. Here's your check," she said, ripping it out of the booklet. "Thanks for everything. It'll make my night a lot easier."  
  
"No problem. Have a good evening." As she left, another customer approached the counter. Soon the after dinner rush was coming in. People wanted movies for the evening and they all came at the same time.  
  
When Harry had a few free minutes he put Kate and Leopold on the main screen, so he could watch it for himself and find out how good it was. He was kept busy checking out movies to people, and wasn't able to watch it very well.. There were several customers also watching it. It seemed like a favorite, and Harry mentally noted the fact so he could tell Bud later. Finally around 9:30 the rush cleared out. By now people were at home watching the movies, not at the store renting them. Except for the occasional 'clack' as people dropped their expired videos in the slot, the store was now empty. Harry rewound the movie, and started it again, determined to watch it correctly. As it played, he checked in a last few movies and walked throughout the store, straightening and sorting out mixed up movies, picking up trash, and generally putting the store back together. Lastly he finished sweeping the tile floor he had started three hours earlier, and ran the carpet cleaner over the rest of the store.  
  
Finally done with everything, he sat down on the bench provided close to the TV for young children, mainly, and enjoyed the movie. It was good—interesting story line, good acting- good people for the parts—and it wasn't just fluff, but it had some fun to it too. He fully enjoyed it.  
  
Finally, at eleven o'clock, he closed up the store. Bud, he assumed, was probably asleep by now, and he didn't know where he lived anyway, so he headed for home.  
  
Half an hour later he let himself in the foyer very quietly, hoping the Dursley's would stay asleep. Apparently they did, because he made it into bed with no trouble.  
  
He thought back on his day—he had thoroughly enjoyed it. He was in shape, tan, and he had a great job- and he got to watch all the new movies that came in for free. He was set to jet, all summer long.  
  
  
  
The days rolled into each other, Monday becoming Tuesday, Tuesday becoming Wednesday. Nothing spectacular happened to define them from one another, other than Sunday, when Harry had no work and could sleep in. He continued to enjoy his job, and the young mother he had met on his first day returned two days later to return the movie that was due. She seemed a great deal more relaxed, and she thanked him for the movies he had chosen, declaring that she had never had a better two days. Harry grinned and thanked her and she left. The store was especially busy Friday and Saturday nights, but Harry had nothing against it. Busy meant money for Bud and money for Bud meant a paycheck for Harry, so it worked out well for everyone involved.  
  
Then, one day at the end of June, a new person came into the store.  
  
  
  
Ooooh—a cliff hanger!! Well, not really. It's not that exciting, but hey, the story is past the preliminaries and we're starting to get some interesting stuff going. Life is good—of course, some more reviews would be appreciated!!! Come on people, try hard… I know you can do it! Sorry this chapter took so long. I've had testing and choir tryouts and stuff—I find out tomorrow whether I made it into the choir I wanted- wish me luck because I WANT TO GET IN!!!!! I'm scared to death… Oh well. I'll live- and the next chapter should be up sometime next week. To those of you who've read my Q&A "story", I'm not sure where it went- I'm assuming Fanfiction deleted it or something. When I tried to upload it again I was told that I can't make a new story until May 1st so you'll see it again then. Promise!!! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Review Review!!! 


	5. Meeting the Twins All Over Again

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX CHAPTER FIVE: MEETING THE TWINS (ALL OVER AGAIN)  
  
Harry looked up as the bell attached to the door rang, signaling another customer coming for a movie. Or two or three. Harry looked up. Scratch that-it was no customer- it was only Bud. There were a couple bodies behind him but he couldn't see who they were and he wasn't all that curious to find out either. "Hey Harry! Told ya 'bout me twin daughters, din' I?" Bud's cheery voice rang out. Harry vaguely remembered him mentioning something about twins for children-but he hadn't really paid attention, since he had just been assigned to his new job and was excited about that. Not wishing to sound impolite, he answered, "Erm.. yeah, I think you said something about them." Bud beamed and pulled two very pretty girls out in front of him. "These are my daughters-Parvarti and Padma." but whatever else he had to say didn't register in Harry's mind. Parvarti. And Padma. They were Bud's daughters? Both of them had grown extremely pretty in the past couple of months. Granted, they were pretty before, but they had matured and were now starting to be flat out beautiful. Both were dressed in Muggle clothes, but not matching. The one Bud had pointed out as Parvarti was wearing a knee length jean skirt, a pink and lavender tie-dyed halter top, and extremely strappy and tall pink sandals to match. Her skin was bronze, undoubtedly from a summer of being in the sun. Her dark brown hair was cut shoulder length. It had blonde streaks throughout it and was very straight and curled under, framing her face nicely. Her deep brown eyes looked him up and down as he took in her appearance. Apparently she approved of Harry's looks too, and with good reason. His long weeks of swimming, tanning, and running had taken a good toll on his body. His arms were muscular without being obnoxious from all the laps he had swum. He was wearing jean shorts, a white tee and a Hawaiian print shirt, unbuttoned, over the top. His legs were muscular too, and his whole body was very tan, setting off his white t-shirt. His messy black hair had been cut about an inch long and was gelled into spikes. He looked good. Wrenching his attention from Parvarti, he looked at Padma. She too was striking. She was wearing short jean shorts from which emerged long tan legs, and white shoes that looked even whiter against her dark skin. Her shirt was plain white, but there wasn't much of it there. It was very low cut, and stopped right below her chest, which filled it out nicely. It too was a halter top, and Harry was sure that there was an ample amount of back showing. Her hair was waist length, straight and shiny. Harry wasn't sure who he should look at- both were clearly desirable, and both were looking at him with obvious admiration and had obviously recognized him. Bud was apparently ignorant of the assessing that was going on right in front of him and had gone on with introductions, pointing Harry out to the girls, who weren't listening to him in the least. "Girls, this is Harry Potter--- do you know each other?" Maybe he wasn't so ignorant after all. Quickly pulling themselves back to earth, they nodded. "Yeah Dad," Padma said, Parvarti and Harry nodding in agreement. "He goes to our school. Haven't we mentioned him?" "Who? Harry? I don't think you have." "Sure Dad, we have-you know, The Boy Who Lived? The one who defeated You-Know-Who? I went to the Yule Ball with him last year. I know I told you that." Parvarti filled him in quickly, with a bit of exasperation showing in her voice that her father hadn't remembered Harry Potter. "Yule Ball. Boy Who Lived. Oh, that was Harry? This Harry?" His daughters nodded. "Ah, well-- I'm sorry girls. I never connected the two things together. I guess I never expected him to be living so close to us." Turning to Harry, he apologized, "Well, since you have all met, maybe I'll just take my brood on home again. I just came to grab a movie for the evening. My wife wanted to see one." Quickly he selected one from the front stand, and turned to leave. "Pat, Tom, c'mon girls. Layt's layv Harry t' hais wuhk." Speaking to Harry, he said, "Y' shouldn't hayv any custuhmers t'night since ait's nearly the fourth, an' a Wednesday naht t' boot. Ya maht get a layttle bored so don't hesitate ta pop in some CD's or a movie or somethin'." "OK, thanks Bud, but I think I have enough work to keep me busy. I've got lots of new movies to check in and stuff." Bud shrugged. "OK, whataiver ya fayl lahk. Let's go, girls." Parvarti held back. "Dad, I think I'll stay with Harry and maybe help him out. He's got lots of movies there to check in. I know how to do it, and I don't want to watch that movie anyway. OK?" "Sure, if ya want to. Hayv fun kids!" Bud and Padma waved goodbye and left, setting off the bell again. Parvarti and Harry set to work on the new movies. "So," Harry said, somewhat awkwardly. "Where in the world did you get a nickname like Tom?" He grinned, thinking of two beautiful girls like Parvarti and Padma being called Pat and Tom. Parvarti grinned back, showing perfect white teeth. "Well, it's just one of Dad's eccentricities, I guess. Padma sounds sort of like Pat, and Tom goes pretty well with Pat, you know- really cliché names? Anyway, he just started calling us that and it stuck." Harry laughed. "Must be fun to have a dad like that." Parvarti nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yeah, he's always been fun to be around. He picked a pretty good job for a parent, too, I might add. We were never short of entertainment as kids." "I 'spose. Well, he's a neat guy, your dad. It was great of him to give me a job for the summer when he didn't even know me and all." "Dad loves kids- and he can never turn one away. I know you're not exactly a kid-"she said as Harry opened his mouth to argue the point, "but Dad thinks of everyone under eighteen a kid, so don't knock it." Closing his mouth, Harry nodded and handed her the next video to be labeled. "Looks like we're almost done here. I can't go home for awhile 'cause my aunt would flip about having to see me anymore than she absolutely has to- so." His voice trailed off. He wasn't sure where he was headed with his comment. Parvarti didn't seem bothered. "Well, tell you what- I would love to see this movie again," she held up 10 Things I Hate About You, "and I'm guessing you've never watched it. I'll run over and get Padma because she loves the movie- and then we can all watch it, if you want." Harry nodded. It sounded good to him. "I'll spring for some popcorn out of my paycheck," he added to the proposition, "and we can make it a movie night. We still have about 4, 5 hours left. Lots of time 'til the store closes. Um," he said somewhat hesitantly, "will your dad be, you know- worried that you and Padma are here alone with a guy?" Parvarti hesitated. "Well, he's pretty protective, but he knows you, and it's not like you'd do anything anyway. Since Padma'll be here too there's really no cause for him to worry. I'll tell him we're just going to watch a movie. He knows he can check on us whenever he wants." She left, the bell clanging as she went. Harry went to turn on the TV and pop the popcorn. An hour and a half later, the movie was finished. Harry and enjoyed the whole thing, and judging from the giggles that erupted at their favorite parts, Parvarti and Padma did too. "Well," Harry said as he pushed the rewind button, "We still have lots of time left- would you like to watch something a little scarier?" "Oh yes, we love scary movies." Parvarti said enthusiastically. "Did you have anything in mind?" "I was thinking Sixth Sense. I haven't seen it yet, have you?" "No, we've only seen the preview. Throw it in. We'd love to watch it." It was a good movie, Harry thought reflectively awhile later. It wasn't horrifically scary, but it was relatively frightening, with gory ghosts, and some popping out from under beds unexpectedly. The girls didn't seem too affected by it. They did get frightened but they didn't scream or hide their face in Harry's shoulder. Which was a good thing, he thought, as he had no idea how he'd react to that. The ending of the movie surprised all of them, and they sat straight up in shock as it dawned on them how everything fit into the plot and added up to that particular ending. As Harry rewound the video, the girls threw away popcorn and soda containers. "Well, I uh." Harry started out hesitantly, then took heart when Parvarti and Padma turned to face him, smiling, "I had a really good time tonight." "Oh, we did too!" They said in unison. "It was a blast!" Padma said. "Yeah, thanks so much for thinking of it," Parvarti added. Without warning, both girls threw their arms around his neck and squeezed him in tight hugs. Harry was caught off guard, but managed to come to his senses, hug them back, and say goodbye without making a prat of himself. Half an hour later Harry was climbing into bed, exhausted, but his mind was still going a mile a minute. Both girls were extremely pretty- but who should he choose? And did either one of them even think of him that way? He had no idea how to go about finding out what the girls were like separately. He fell asleep. 


	6. Questions and Goodbyes

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX  
  
CHAPTER SIX: QUESTIONS AND GOOD-BYES  
  
Unconsciously Harry decided not to decide which twin to choose-it was easier to just not think about it. He woke up the next morning still feeling a little sick at all the wondering he'd done and he still hadn't come up with anything worth mentioning. He got up slightly earlier than usual the next day, and whether this was from not being able to sleep or just wanting to get away from his room where he'd been doing too much thinking-he didn't know. When he got down to the kitchen, he noticed, to his relief that Aunt Petunia wasn't up yet.  
  
Quickly, he got out a bowl and walked to the pantry, glancing over his shoulder every few steps. 'This is stupid,' he told himself. 'I don't have to be scared of putting together a bowl of cereal for heaven's sake.' Shaking off the slight apprehension he had at the thought of Aunt Petunia's face if she had seen him digging through the pantry of her kitchen- he grabbed a box of cereal and commenced to eat his breakfast. As he stood to rinse his dishes, his head whipped around, thinking he had heard a footstep in the hallway. No-- no one was there. Mentally cursing his tendency to be a wimp around the Dursleys, Harry finished loading his dishes into the dishwasher, grabbed his bag, and left the house.  
  
As soon as he was on the sidewalk with nothing to do other than walk- and think-he was sunk again. Parvati and Padma were in his thoughts. Not just in his thoughts, they were his thoughts.  
  
"Good night," he thought aloud to himself. "There's got to be a name for this. Obsession? In love? Hormone crazed teenage boy? Yeah, that sounds about right. Honestly, why can't crazy hormones be dealt out to mature adults who can handle it? Whose sick idea was it to match immaturity up with raging hormones and no sense?" Mumbling incoherently to himself (and looking quite mad to the other early risers that were up and about,) Harry slowly walked to the pool, forgetting that he usually ran. When he came to the front gate, he just about ran into it, he was so distracted.  
  
"Bugger," he said with feeling, staring at the gate. It was too early, the place was still closed. He turned around, feeling slightly disoriented- what to do now? He saw a sign that said Library with an arrow pointing towards the larger part of town.  
  
"Why not?" Harry shrugged, and headed towards the library. "Hermione would be proud of me," he thought wryly. He'd be sure to let her know he'd spent time in the library over the summer- although he would not elaborate with details such as-"read a bunch of comic books," "nothing else to do," "only stayed for an hour or so." Thinking of her reaction to those statements was nearly as funny as the reaction he'd get by telling her he'd spent most of his summer watching dirty movies. She was very scholarly, Hermione was. Never could turn down an educational book. She was a little strange that way. He grinned to himself. Already his bad mood was lifting.  
  
Two hours later Harry stepped out into the sunlight, blinking with the brightness of it. He'd completely lost track of time. He'd found several books worth reading, although they weren't exactly challenging material. His thoughts on the matter didn't go too deep, but he didn't see any point in reading a bunch of educational nonfiction now in the middle of summer when come September he'd have to practically live in the library, studying for O.W.L.s. Unconsciously he sped up to a jog, reaching the pool in no time at all.  
  
Later that evening, while Harry was sorting through a list of late videos on the computer, the bell jangled. He looked up, seeing a somewhat surly looking middle-aged man, who walked quickly over to the Drama section.  
  
Not two minutes later he was standing at the front counter. Harry moved the mouse to close down the open window on the computer screen before helping the man, and as he did, the man irately slammed the video down on the counter, exclaiming, "Excuse me, I'm in a hurry here! Would you please check this movie for me?!" Harry swallowed the anger that had risen in him at the man's unfair comment and picked up the movie  
  
"Yes, sir," he added to his actions for good measure. Harry placed the movie in front of the man after noting it in the computer, naming the price as he did so. The man's eyebrows shot up.  
  
"How much was that?" he demanded rudely. Harry repeated the sum.  
  
"Insane," the man muttered angrily, half to himself, half to Harry. "Howling, barking mad. Check that again," he told Harry imperiously.  
  
"I thought you were in a hurry," Harry said coolly. The man started muttering again, phrases like, "no respect," "kids," "attitudes like I've never seen," coming up in his speech.  
  
"I assure you I've rung it up correctly," Harry said, somewhat condescendingly. He knew he wasn't making the man like him any more but he didn't really care. "Would you like to talk to the manager?" The man backed down immediately.  
  
"No, no, I'll just go now."he said, withdrawing his wallet. He placed the money on the counter and left with his movie. Harry chuckled, turning to look at he doorway as the bell sounded again. His smile widened; it was Parvati and Padma.  
  
"Hi, Harry!" they said at the same time.  
  
"What's so funny?" Padma asked curiously. "Do we look that strange?" She grinned, and Harry grinned back. No, they certainly didn't look strange. Phenomenal was more like it.  
  
Parvati was wearing black capris, thick-soled black sandals, a plain white shirt, and a thin, thigh-length, blue duster. Her hair was parted in the middle and pulled back on one side with two sparkly hairpins.  
  
Padma was wearing a short jean skirt with a wide black belt, a skin-tight long-sleeved white shirt, and duplicates of Parvati's sandals, only in white. Her long hair was pulled loosely back into a white clip.  
  
"Nah," Harry said, finally looking back to their smiling faces. "No, you're not strange looking at all. You guys look great. Actually, it was that old bloke you two passed coming in. He complained about the service and the price, and kids these days." Harry paused, smirking, then continued, "But when I offered to let him talk to the manager- he scarpered." Harry grinned, remembering not only the man's actions, but also the last time he'd heard the word 'scarpered'- in his third year, when Ron had described Sirius Black's flight from Gryffindor Tower. Parvati grinned.  
  
"Oh, him. He's been a plague to Dad for years. I think they've gotten so that they enjoy their arguments, in some kind of weird, twisted sort of way. Dad thinks he's funny."  
  
"Well he's free to deal with him!" Harry said humorously. They all laughed, and talked for a while in between customers. Finally the twins left.  
  
It became a daily routine. Every evening the twins came to visit Harry for a half hour or so. Still Harry didn't know whom to choose. It wasn't for lack of wondering- he left the store every night in turmoil, wondering, thinking, contemplating. He thought that it was possible that Parvati might be interested in him; she came some days that Padma didn't come, and she stayed longer to help him and talk. But, Harry thought sourly, what's to say that she's used to doing things more without Padma- and she just helps out because she's a nice person? Who says there's any "like" in it? It was a problem. Harry's birthday was on a Monday, and due to a schedule change that Bud had incorporated- he had the day off. He lay in bed, ignoring the arguing he heard from below (Dudley still wasn't too thrilled about his diet.) and staring at the bright blue sky. "This," he thought aloud to himself, "would be a truly great day- if I was anywhere but here." He lay in bed a few more minutes, and then shrugged. "Might as well face it," he said resignedly, getting up to take a shower.  
  
Twenty minutes later he was back in his room. He looked up when he heard a tapping on his window. It was an owl, which was expected, but not an owl he recognized. He walked over to the window.  
  
"Hello there," he greeted the newcomer. "Who are you from? Come to bring me something neat for my birthday?" He was in a better mood after a hot shower, and the Dursleys were all gone for the day too.  
  
The owl didn't reply, just held out its leg, allowing him to untie the two envelopes tied on there.  
  
"Thanks!" Harry said to the owl, sending it off out the window. He turned back to the letters he had in his hand, but before he could open them another owl came soaring in through his open window. This one he recognized- it was Pig, Ron's owl, carrying a small package. Before he could untangle Pig from the ties, another owl came through, and another and another. Four owls were now sitting in his room, one on top of Hedwig's cage, two on the dresser, and one was perched on the windowsill right in front of Harry, glaring at him ominously.  
  
"All right, I'll take your package first!" Harry said to the belligerent owl. He freed the three unknown owls from their burdens and sent them on their way after giving them a drink of water. He turned to his bed, which was now covered in packages and cards. He sat down and picked up the first card he had received. He had just begun to open it when a very insulted SQUAWK! came from underneath him. He jumped up, barely swallowing his yell of shock.  
  
"PIG!" he burst out, disgusted. "Why are you always in the way?" Pig didn't answer. He looked up at Harry with a disgruntled look on his face, clicking his beak in obvious anger. Harry relented at once.  
  
"All right, all right, I'm sorry. It was completely my fault. I should have looked where I was sitting. C'mere, I'll take your package off for you." Pig, his wounded pride (and head) apparently healed, walked over to Harry and extended his leg, waiting patiently until the string was untied.  
  
"You sure are acting decent today," Harry told Pig in a conversational tone. "Did Ron train you up a bit, or are you just tired?" Pig cocked his head sideways, uttering a tiny "squeak" for an answer. Harry nodded.  
  
"I see," he said wisely. "That's how it goes, huh? No joke." Finally he freed Pig from the ties and set the owl on his pillow to do whatever it was owls did in their free time. He picked up his first letter for the third time, this time managing to get it completely open. He broke into a smile.  
  
"Look at this!" he said to Pig, for lack of anyone else to talk to. "Parvati and Padma sent cards!" Pig apparently didn't care, as there was no answer. "Best Wishes on your birthday, Sincerely, Padma." Harry read aloud. "Happy Birthday, Harry!! I'll see you tomorrow, all right? Love," Harry choked. "Love, Parvati."  
  
Harry laid the cards on the bed, somewhat shell-shocked. "Love?!" he said out loud to himself. He shrugged. It probably didn't mean anything anyway. Still, he couldn't put it completely out of his mind. He reached for one of the packages lying on his bed waiting to be opened. He quickly untied the knots in the string and discarded it. He opened the box and laughed. Apparently Fred and George had wanted to repay him for his generous gift to them earlier that summer. They had sent him a box chock full of their custom-made pranks: fake wands, Canary Creams, Flavored Ink, Year-Round Snowballs, and all sorts of other stuff. Enclosed was a note thanking Harry again for the money he'd donated to the twins.  
  
Harry looked up again as he put the box aside, sighed, and then grinned- there were more owls winging their way into his room. One was obviously a school owl, which was carrying a squashy looking package, and the other he didn't know.  
  
"More?" Harry said, half joking, half exasperated. "Yeesh, I've already gotten plenty of presents!! Oh well, make way." He cleared a space on his bed and reached up to untie the two new packages. He untied the first one quickly, subconsciously expecting another owl to come through his window any minute. None did.  
  
He opened one of the packages- it was from Hagrid. It looked like a life time supply of rock-cakes, Although, Harry thought dryly, one would last me a lifetime at the rate I'd eat it. He turned to another package.  
  
"Wow, Hermione!" He said hoarsely as he opened the package that was from her, judging by the enclosed card that she had signed. She had sent him a Quidditch game-a three-dimensional, realistically made Quidditch game. He glanced at the directions, trying to figure out how exactly to run the thing-and wasn't surprised to find that the entire thing was run by magic- all the players were suspended in mid-air, and, he suspected, would stay in the air once he activated it.  
  
Harry placed Hermione's gift to the side, planning on saving it to play with Ron sometime during the school year. He turned to the squashy-looking package that had just arrived. He broke the official Hogwarts seal on the envelope and read:  
  
Dear Mr. Potter,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to be Gryffindor Captain of the house Quidditch team. We expect that you will not take this responsibility lightly. Enclosed are you captain robes.  
  
Sincerely, Minerva M. McGonagall (Deputy Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor House)  
  
Harry's face broke into a grin. Quidditch captain! He'd never really thought about it before, but now that he was captain he couldn't imagine not being captain.  
  
"Oh!" he said aloud in disgust. "I forgot to read Hermione's card!" He finished opening the card, (which proclaimed "To Harry, Love, Hermione, on the envelope) and began to read.  
  
Hey Harry!  
  
I found this in the Daily Prophet last week and ordered it for you- hope you like it!  
  
Guess what? Ron and I have been made prefects! I hope you don't feel bad about that Harry, but I'm so excited! I'm at Ron's right now but we'll meet you in Diagon Alley sometime before school starts, all right?! Lots of Love- Hermione  
  
Harry smiled, happy for Hermione. She'd finally been made prefect- it was exactly what she wanted. And now Ron had a chance at achieving his "heart's desire." He quickly picked up a piece of parchment and wrote-  
  
Hey Hermione-  
  
Don't worry about it; I'm happy you two are prefects. Besides- I'm Quidditch Captain! Can't wait to see you all- ---Harry  
  
"Here, Hedwig," he said, standing up and tying the letter to her leg. "Go find Hermione for me." Hedwig took off. Harry sat down again, and picked another package at random. At this rate it'd take him all day to get through his presents!  
  
He looked at the card; it was from Ron. There was no mistaking his scrawl.  
  
Hey Harry. This is called a C-tall, (a see-it-all, get it?) and it's really neat. If you shake it and say someone's name it'll show that person no matter where they are. Try it! Hermione's here for a while- she's having fun, far as I can see. She and Ginny spend a lot of time together. We'll meet you in Diagon Alley sometime before school's in- we can figure out dates later. Happy Birthday! ---Ron  
  
Harry opened the package, untying the string and throwing it to the side. Inside of about three layers of paper a glass ball about the size of a golf ball lay nestled. Harry picked it up and nearly dropped it. For something so small with no discernable matter inside it weighed a lot. Harry shook it.  
  
"Ron Weasley," he whispered into the silence. The ball began to shake and Harry gripped it tightly. A speck of red smoke appeared, twirling in the center of the sphere. It grew larger and larger, still spinning, before it popped and disappeared, to be replaced a split second later by a string of gray smoke- which pulled itself longer and longer until the ends touched the sides of the C-tall- and kept going. It continued stretching until it reached around twelve inches long. It floated out of Harry's hand to hover directly in front of him, and then it began to grow up, stopping at twelve inches again and making a perfect square. A bright, clear image of Ron showed on the miniature screen, and Harry laughed.  
  
Ron was still sleeping by the looks of it. His hair was going every which way, and he had a slight smile on his face.  
  
"Wonder what he's dreaming about?" Harry thought out loud, amused. He looked at the screen again, not quite sure how to get it back to normal. He reached a tentative finger out towards it, and just as he touched it the image disappeared and the C-tall landed on the bed with a soft 'thump.' Harry reached over to pick it up and exclaimed  
  
"Pig!" Apparently what owls did in their free time was not what Harry had expected. The minute little owl was having some sort of wrestling match between himself and the discarded string from Harry's presents, and he was losing.  
  
His feet were hobbled about an inch apart, allowing him no way to move except hopping. He had a strand of string passing through his beak, which then wrapped completely around his head, under his right wing, and around his left.  
  
Pig lay there, making furious sounding squawks and squeaks. Harry erupted into laughter, his mirth greatly hampering his efforts to untie the poor owl. Finally he got the owl free.  
  
Harry sat Pig on a pillow and ordered him, "Stay there. Understand?" Pig looked up at him with big eyes. He sat there on the pillow, legs stretched out in front of him, wings limply draped where they had landed, with his beak hanging open. Harry grinned and patted the little owl lightly on the head.  
  
He reached for the package that he was guessing was from Sirius. It was, and it contained- a photo album? Harry glanced at the enclosed note. What.?  
  
Dear Harry, the note read.  
  
This was your mother's. Don't ask me how I got it but I thought you'd like it. It's her years at Hogwarts- on film. Please be careful Harry, and don't do anything I wouldn't do." Harry snorted. That left him a wide variety of things to do. ".and do what Dumbledore says this year. Happy Birthday! --Snuffles  
  
Harry opened the photo album. There was his mother and father, page after page of them, all moving and smiling--when they had been his age. His eyes smarted and he quickly put the album away for later.  
  
He reached for his last present, sending a chastising look at Pig, who immediately climbed back up on the perch he had been inching down from. Satisfied, Harry looked at the card.  
  
Happy Birthday, Harry!  
  
I'm looking forward to your visit to the Burrow- we'll have fun. Hermione has been teaching me all sorts things for fourth years so I'm really getting a head start! This present was a little expensive but I know you'll like it. It's a sound thing for the C-tall Ron gave you. When the screen of the C-tall is full size, just touch this little gadget to it and you can hear the sounds that the person on the screen can hear. Happy Birthday again! --Ginny  
  
"Whoa." Harry muttered. "This is incredible." He unwrapped the present Ginny had sent to him and sat looking at it for a minute. It looked complicated, with lots of unlabeled switches and dials. One end was shaped into an arrow, while the other end was a semi-circle, which sported a large dial, painstakingly labeled in large letters: "VOLUME." Harry bit back a grin.  
  
Picking up his C-tall, he once again asked to see Ron. When the picture was full-sized, he held the new sound gadget to it, turning the dial up slightly from zero as he did so. A faint sound of snoring issued into the room. Pig hooted in what sounded like owl laughter.  
  
"Sod off," Harry said automatically. The owl gave him a disgruntled look, hooted rebelliously, and settled down again to stare into space, probably thinking of how great the world would be- if mice were actually smaller than he was.  
  
Dropping the C-tall and its sound piece onto the bed, Harry opened the user's manual for the speaker.  
  
"1. Use only the dials that are clearly labeled."  
  
"As opposed to what? Unclearly labeled dials? Sheesh," Harry complained to himself, picking up the speaker again. A thorough inspection of the contraption revealed no more "clearly labeled dials," or any unclearly labeled dials either. Harry glanced back at the manual.  
  
"2. If you're stuck already, you shouldn't be allowed near this machine. Enjoy!"  
  
Harry laughed aloud, startling Pig, who toppled down from his pillow perch, landing in an undignified position with his large eyes blinking out at Harry from underneath his feet.  
  
Harry glanced at the directions one more time, back at Pig, erupted into laughter again, and tossed the paper and speaker back onto the bed. He turned to the C-tall still in his hand. He shook it.  
  
"Parvati Patil," he said clearly. A few seconds later the screen was intact in front of him and Harry looked eagerly at it, hoping he could see her smile again.  
  
"Whoa!" he exclaimed in shock, quickly reaching out to touch the screen. "Sorry, Parvati!" He blushed bright red. "That was stupid," he berated himself, more softly. "It's late morning in the middle of summer-of course she'd be getting dressed. Agh, I'm an idiot." He shook his head, the blush fading some from his cheeks. He looked again at the C-tall, a slight smile lighting up his face. It had been interesting, at that. The smile disappeared, to be replaced by a light frown.  
  
"I wonder." he said softly, thinking out loud. He shook the ball.  
  
"Lily-" Pig looked up at Harry with a worried look.  
  
"Lily-" Harry tried again. "No. No, I can't do this." He dropped the C- tall onto the bed again. He couldn't do it- he couldn't ask to see his mother- or his father. Who knew how they'd appear? Skeletons? Harry shuddered. He didn't want to think about it. He cleared away the wrappings and set up his gifts and cards on the desk. He stood looking at them for a minute, absurdly happy that he even had friends to give him gifts. Finally he jerked his gaze away from his birthday things and sat down on his bed to write thank-yous to everyone.  
  
~*~  
  
Halfway through August, Harry gave Bud the notice that he was leaving. He'd only been working for six weeks, and yet he felt he had to get back to the wizarding world, and after a few days of owling Professor Dumbledore back and forth, the headmaster had reluctantly agreed to allow Harry to leave the Dursley's- on the condition that he went to Diagon Alley and nowhere else. "I'm allowing you to go, Harry," one letter from the Professor read, "under the condition that you stay in Diagon Alley, and I want you to wear this bracelet I'm sending along." A silver bracelet with no design except for a red stone in the very centre on top fell out of the envelope. "It's a tracking bracelet, and I know you won't want to wear it," Harry made a face at the offending object, "but it's essential, and you did say you wanted to go to Diagon Alley." In the end Harry agreed to wear the bracelet, Although, he swore to himself, it will never be seen by anyone but me.  
  
Bud wasn't happy with the proclamation.  
  
"Layving?! But wah, Harry? Everythang's goin' so wayll!"  
  
"I know," Harry said regretfully. "And I'll give you a few more days, but I just need-I don't know. I think I'm going to go to Diagon Alley and get a room at the Leaky Cauldron for a couple weeks or so. Just get back into the wizarding world. I still have all my summer homework to do and that'd be a good place to do it." Bud shook his head.  
  
"Ah cain't tahk y'out of ait.?" Harry shook his head. Although he felt like he was being a bit of a chicken running away from his problems this way, he knew it was the right thing to do.  
  
"Wayll." Bud sighed. "All raht. Three more days. And if y'nayd a job naixt summuh, y'know where t'come." He clapped Harry on the shoulder. Y' been a good worker, kid. Rayl good. Ah couldn't ask fer better." Harry smiled happily and thanked him. Then he sighed. Three days.  
  
~*~  
  
The three days seemed to last forever, but finally the day came for Harry to leave. He would take the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron where he would spend his leftover pay (surprisingly, the Dursleys hadn't demanded any of his pay- they seemed to be happy that his job kept him out of the house) and last month of his vacation enjoying himself and doing his homework, although he expected he'd spend as much time as he could not doing the latter.  
  
Surprisingly, Parvati and Padma had taken the news pretty well. They had both been disappointed but they understood Harry's need to get back into the wizarding community. They felt it too, although not nearly as strongly.  
  
They watched silently as Harry cleaned up the store for the last time just before closing up. Finally he stood, surveying his work, making sure it was completely finished. Satisfied, he turned to Parvati and Padma. He stood uncertainly, not quite sure what to do. Before he could say anything they both came forward. Padma reached him first, and wrapped her arms around him in a tight, friendly hug. She stepped back and Parvati came forward.  
  
He wrapped his arms around her and she did likewise to him. He held her for a couple moments, not saying anything. It felt comfortable to have his arms around her, somehow. Finally she made a move to step back. As he loosened his arms she stretched up and whispered in his ear,  
  
"I'll miss you." He shivered, and his heart skipped a beat.  
  
"It's only for a few weeks," he whispered back softly. She nodded, and he released her.  
  
No more words were exchanged as the girls left. Kind of like a funeral procession, Harry thought wryly, following them out the door after turning off the main lights.  
  
Half an hour later he fell into bed, exhausted. He'd be leaving for the Leaky Cauldron first thing in the morning. 


	7. Back to the Wizarding World

DISCLAIMER: The usual, it's all JK's minus the storyline, of course. You know what isn't.  
  
A/N: Hope you all enjoy this chapter-sorry I didn't have it up earlier, I was thinking I had already loaded it! As always, read and review.. Chapter 8 coming soon!!! --Kjirstyn  
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX CHAPTER SEVEN: BACK TO THE WIZARDING WORLD  
  
About eight o'clock the next evening, Harry walked out of number 4 Privet Drive.  
  
Three blocks later, He pulled out his wand and held it out. With a loud BANG the Knight Bus appeared out of nowhere, nearly knocking Harry over. He recovered his balance just in time to catch a glimpse of a familiar, acne-filled face.  
  
"Knight Bus, travels anywhere, excepting underwater and aerial travel-Oi, Harry Potter! 'Ow ya doin', Neville?!" Stan Shunpike jumped down the steps to welcome Harry, winking conspiratorially as he did so.  
  
"How ya been lately Harry? Here, let me get your trunk- Jump up, pay your bill- price still the same." Stan prattled on to no one as he disappeared down the aisle, lugging Harry's trunk behind him.  
  
"Eleven sickles?" Harry asked Ernie Prang, the driver. Ernie nodded curtly.  
  
"Where to?" he barked.  
  
"Er. as close to Diagon Alley as you can get me."  
  
"Right," Ernie jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Stan coming up behind him. "Pull up a bed and siddown." Harry followed Stan down the aisle, trying to tune out his constant talking.  
  
"Ri' here," Stan pointed to a bed enthusiastically. Harry sat down, nodding his thanks. Stan continued on down the aisle.  
  
"Leaky Cauldron!" Stan called out a while later. Harry got up, groggy from sleep. Stan picked up Harry's trunk again and carried it off the bus as Harry followed.  
  
"G'bye, Harry!" Stan waved from the bus.  
  
"Bye Stan," Harry said over his shoulder. The bus popped out of sight and Harry walked into the pub and over to the counter where Tom was idly wiping the counter with a crusty rag.  
  
"One room please- until September first," he requested. Tom nodded.  
  
"Sure boy." He fumbled under the counter. "Room thirteen," he said, handing Harry his key. "Have a nice stay.  
  
"Thanks, Tom," Harry said, heading up to his room.  
  
Dumping his large load at the foot of the bed, Harry sighed contentedly.  
  
"Another home away from home," he said, grinning blearily at the mirror. "Agh-to heck with waking up. G'night." Harry kicked off his shoes, fell onto the bed, and was out like a light.  
  
~*~  
  
Harry awoke early the next morning. Strictly speaking, he didn't have any choice, as Hedwig was hooting indignantly and ruffling her feathers with little- or quite possibly no- respect for Harry's fast-disappearing dreams. Harry looked up at Hedwig blearily.  
  
"Agh. Shut it, you," he said disgustedly, shooting a death glare at the owl, who was sitting quite innocently on a post of Harry's bed, staring off into the distance. She turned her head and gave a soft hoot, as if to say, "Who, me?" Harry groaned and rolled over, trying to go back to sleep. Hedwig hooted loudly again. Harry covered his head with his pillow and grunted. There was silence for a minute, and then:  
  
"Whoooo! Hoo, hoo hoo hoo hoo! HOO!"  
  
"Oh, shut up, Hedwig, let me sleep!" Harry hollered at the bird. Hedwig clicked her beak. The look on her face strongly reminded Harry of Hermione and he cracked a smile.  
  
"All right, you great fat feathery fraud." He paused. "Or feathery excuse for an alarm clock. I'm not sure which. Anyway. I'm getting up," he directed at her. "Are you happy?" Hedwig hooted again and flew out the window. Harry watched until she was out of sight and then dove back under the covers.  
  
"Up, you lazy boy!" the mirror called. "The day's a-wasting!"  
  
"G'way," Harry grumbled.  
  
"A physical impossibility," the mirror snapped back smartly. "You, however, are perfectly capable of achieving what I cannot. Now move it!"  
  
Grumbling about the inconvenience of all things magic, Harry reluctantly got up and took a shower, which helped wake him up somewhat. Humming a nameless tune, Harry pulled on some robes and headed down to grab some breakfast.  
  
Half an hour later he headed for Diagon Alley. He walked slowly, taking in all the sights. Even though he had been coming here for five years Harry still marveled at all the interesting things there were to see. He looked up the street and saw his destination--the magnificent, if somewhat lopsided, building that was Gringotts bank.  
  
Twenty minutes and two wild rides later, Harry stepped into the sunlight, clutching a bag full of wizard money. He shaded his eyes from the sun, which was blinding in comparison to the dreary building he had just come from. He stumbled, and knocked into somebody.  
  
"Well well, if it isn't the oh-so-famous Harry Potter," a familiar voice drawled. Harry looked up, hoping it wasn't him- but it was.  
  
"Malfoy," he said with no emotion. Draco smirked.  
  
"How very sweet of you, to learn my name. But watch it, Potter- Don't go saying it too often. You might wear it out. We can't have that, now can we?" The words sounded like the Draco Harry knew, but the eyes were different- what was going on?  
  
Draco's eyes weren't icy like they always were. They were still gray and still cold, but the shutters holding back any display of emotion were spontaneously going up, and quick flashes of what was apparently the real Draco Malfoy could be seen.  
  
It wasn't hostility Harry saw there, in the brief instant he looked. It was pain, pain that couldn't be described in words, and wistfulness. Wistfulness? Harry wondered distractedly. Without realizing, Harry unconsciously decided right then that he would try to make life a little better for Draco Malfoy.  
  
"You alive, Potter?" Draco inquired. It was the same tone he'd always used, Harry noted, but somehow it didn't seem as cold and heartless as usual.  
  
Am I insane? Harry thought. Trusting, wanting to be nice to Draco Malfoy? He shook himself.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. Look, Malfoy. I'm alone here for a month or so and I've got nobody to pass time with."  
  
"Family dump you off?" Draco sneered. Harry fought to stay calm.  
  
"No. It was my decision. Anyway, could we put aside our differences for awhile and maybe even get along?"  
  
A sneer started to show on Draco's face. "Malfoys don't call truces, Potter." Harry eyed him warily.  
  
"I didn't say 'truce,' Malfoy. I said 'get along.' Truce is temporary. I'm talking possibly long term. It's stupid to fight all the time." The sneer began to show again on Draco's face, but it fell before it fully developed this time. He nodded.  
  
"All right. We get along. What's in it for you?"  
  
"Nothing!" Harry was getting exasperated. "I don't do everything just to benefit me!" Draco looked a little surprised, but didn't comment.  
  
"Well," he said a little awkwardly. "What were you- uh."  
  
"Planning to do today?" Harry supplied for him. Draco nodded, looking relieved.  
  
"Well, frankly- I hadn't decided yet," Harry said, grinning. "Thought I'd wander around and see what kind of trouble I could get into."  
  
"Trouble?" Draco brightened. "What kind of trouble?" Harry rolled his eyes. Honestly, these Slytherins.  
  
"I'm thinking the kind of trouble that includes a large dish of ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. My treat," he added, lifting up his full moneybag.  
  
Draco looked deflated. "Some trouble," he said disgustedly.  
  
"Listen, you selfish, egotistical-"  
  
"Now now," Draco said in his maddeningly calm voice, holding up his hands as though to ward off the insults. "No fights in the streets."  
  
"You-" Harry spluttered.  
  
"After all," Draco continued, ignoring Harry, "we wouldn't want to mess up my hair, would we?" He smiled angelically.  
  
"Sometimes I could happily kill you, Malfoy," Harry said disdainfully. Draco shrugged.  
  
"But you won't, you know that. You're too noble," he said, a smirk once again reappearing on his face.  
  
"Don't use that against me, Malfoy," Harry said warningly. "I can't help who I am any more then you can help who you are."  
  
"I am who I am by popular demand," Draco said snootily.  
  
"Oh, humble and perfect," Harry shot back. "What a nice combination!"  
  
"One the world should not be deprived of. Especially not when it's wrapped in a package like this," Draco answered, gesturing in general to his body. "Besides, I'm proud of my humility." Harry coughed.  
  
"I can't win, can I?" he asked. Draco raised an eyebrow.  
  
"No. Did you really think you would? I haven't lost yet and I don't intend to," Draco finished with a flourish.  
  
"Now, I believe you said something about a large dish of ice cream?" Harry shook his head.  
  
"You're impossible," he informed the other boy. Draco smiled.  
  
"Thank you. I work hard at it." He started walking towards the ice cream shop. Harry stared in surprise at the other boy's back for a minute, mouth open. Draco turned.  
  
"Ogling me, Potter?" he asked laconically. "I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but I just don't swing that way." Harry turned red.  
  
"Of course I wasn't-- never mind. Come on, you insufferable git."  
  
"I resemble that remark," Draco said thoughtfully, following Harry down the street.  
  
***  
  
"So," Harry said conversationally through a mouth full of ice cream. "Why are you in Diagon Alley?" Draco stiffened. "Bad question?" Harry asked, confused.  
  
"No, Potter," Draco said sarcastically. "It's a fine question. Except- I don't want to answer it."  
  
"Oh- okay." Harry said, unsure of what else there was to say. "So." Draco looked at Harry for a minute, then sighed exasperatedly.  
  
"All right Potter, you want the story? My father brought me here and left me with enough money to survive and get back to school. End of story, all you need to know."  
  
"But why." Harry started to ask. Draco looked up, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Er. never mind," Harry said hastily. Draco looked down again.  
  
"Listen Potter," he said so softly that Harry had to lean in to hear him. "My life is not up for discussion. Ever. Understand?" Harry looked at Draco thoughtfully for a second and then nodded.  
  
"Good," Draco said coldly. He pushed back his chair and looked down at his dish of melted ice cream, then up at Harry. His mouth worked for a minute.  
  
"Potter." he said slowly. "Uh- thanks." Harry nodded. He and Draco both knew that there was more than just the ice cream included in Draco's words.  
  
"No problem Malfoy," he answered. Draco stood up.  
  
"I'm going back to my room," he said, walking towards the Leaky Cauldron. Harry looked down at his ice cream and took another bite. He swallowed, and stood up, going over to pay the tab.  
  
"Thanks!" he called as he left a few minutes later.  
  
"Have a nice day!" came the answer.  
  
Harry walked quickly down the street toward the Leaky Cauldron. He walked in and over to Tom behind the bar.  
  
"Tom," he said politely. "Could you tell me which room Draco Malfoy is in?" Tom looked up.  
  
"Ah." he said thoughtfully. "The pale blonde boy?" Harry nodded. "Mmm. He's in room number fifteen."  
  
"Thanks," Harry said gratefully, heading towards the stairs. He walked upstairs and down the hallway, then knocked on a door. "Malfoy!" he called. "Open the door." There was no answer. "Come out, Malfoy," he ordered. A door cracked open behind him, but he took no notice of it. He pounded on the door again.  
  
"Draco Malfoy, if you don't come out, I'll-"  
  
"Really, Potter, wouldn't it make a bit more sense to knock on my door?" a voice from behind him asked. Harry spun around.  
  
"What are you doing over there?" he asked, voice rising angrily. "You're supposed to be over here!"  
  
Draco smirked at Harry. "Oh am I?" he said coolly. "Why, if I may be so impertinent to ask?"  
  
"Tom said you were in room fifteen," Harry said.  
  
"Last I looked that's exactly where I was," Draco said dryly. "Perhaps you should apologize to the lady behind you. She seems to be a bit confused as to why you're knocking on her door instead of mine."  
  
"What?" Harry said disconcertedly. Draco nodded in the direction of the door in front of which Harry was standing. Harry turned around and flushed.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said to the older lady standing there. "I was looking for a different door." He flushed darker, realizing how stupid that sounded.  
  
"My name is Alexandra, Harry Potter," she said slowly. "Remember that. Thank you for your apology." Before Harry could answer she shut the door. Alexandra? Harry thought. Okay. He turned around to look at Draco again.  
  
"Brilliant move, Potter," he said, amused. "Maybe next time you'll look at the door you're pounding on."  
  
"Stuff it, Malfoy," Harry said coldly, still feeling like an idiot for knocking on the wrong door. Draco shrugged.  
  
"As you wish," he said. "What do you want?" Harry stepped forward, calming down.  
  
"I just wanted to see-" He paused. Somehow he didn't think he should tell Malfoy he was checking up on him to see if he was all right. "-to see if you had done your homework yet," he finished lamely. Draco looked at him oddly for a minute.  
  
"No," he said finally. "I still have my Potions homework. And-" he hesitated. "-and my Transfiguration homework. I'm-not so great at Transfiguration."  
  
"Well-" Harry said, not sure if he should. "If you want- I could help you with your Transfiguration if you'll help me with my Potions."  
  
"Help?" Draco spat out the word. "Malfoys don't need help. Especially from Potters!" He moved to shut the door but Harry stopped him.  
  
"Everyone needs help from someone, sometime. You're human, Malfoy."  
  
"Oh, well spotted," Draco said acidly. Harry looked at him thoughtfully.  
  
"Well-sometimes I wonder about the truth of that remark," he said. A smile tugged at the corners of Draco's mouth.  
  
"Good one Potter. That was almost funny. Except it wasn't." He paused. "I win again," he said, a full smile showing on his face at last. 


	8. Draco Meets The Weasleys

DISCLAIMER: As many Buffy fans will notice, I've borrowed "Buffy Quotes" shamelessly. They're all from that great show. And, naturally, none of the obvious stuff is mine, all belongs to the brilliant JK.  
  
A/N: Thanks to all my great betas and 'content checkers': Anjali, Anne, Jenny, Molly and Silverdove. Thanks to all reviewers-you all know how much I like those!!! Chapter nine WILL be out soon, I'm working hard, I promise!!! Please read and review!! ---Kjirstyn  
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX CHAPTER EIGHT: DRACO MEETS-THE WEASLEYS  
  
A couple of hours later Harry and Draco were in Draco's room doing their homework, having reached a temporary truce. Both were seated at opposite sides of the room- Draco sitting at the desk, which was provided with the room, and Harry lying on his stomach on the floor. They worked silently, ignoring each other. Harry's offer to trade help on their homework was not mentioned.  
  
Harry lay with his quill between his teeth, thinking to himself about the situation at hand- Draco- rather than his homework. He couldn't work out what had happened or why. Why was Draco being so much more amiable than usual? Why was Draco even tolerating Harry's presence? Why was Harry tolerating Draco's presence? Harry wasn't sure of the answers to either of the questions but he knew one thing; for some strange, inexplicable reason, he was willingly getting along with Draco Malfoy.  
  
Why? he thought. He couldn't answer himself, but rather started thinking through it. Why indeed. Well, there was something very- appealing about Draco right now. Like he was trying to get along. Malfoy trying to get along? God! I am so mentally challenged! Maybe he's cursed, Harry thought in amusement.  
  
What Harry wouldn't think about, or possibly wouldn't even admit, was that he empathized with Malfoy. He too had been abandoned for seemingly no reason in a world that hated him. His own life as an outcast had been miserable until he reached Hogwarts- and what Draco was dealing with was just a small parallel of the same thing; he had been dumped off by a father who couldn't have cared less about him- left to live on his own in a community that habitually despised him, no matter how respectful they were to his face.  
  
However, despite any slightly kind feelings he had; Harry knew that no matter how well he and Draco got along on the surface, he couldn't trust the other boy. It was too dangerous.  
  
Tap! A sharp noise came from the direction of the window. Harry looked up and saw Pig fluttering outside, obviously trying to get in.  
  
"Hang on a minute!" Harry said exasperatedly to the impatient owl who was simultaneously clicking his beak and claws against the glass. He shoved his books out of the way and tried to stand up, without much luck. His hands, which had been holding him up slipped, as the paper they were resting on skidded. He collapsed on his stomach, cracking his chin rather painfully on the wooden floor. Draco snorted in laughter and Harry made his way up to his knees again so he could give the blond boy the full benefit of his glare.  
  
"Sod off Malfoy," he said wrathfully, the sting in his words not having much effect as he slipped again and finally rose to his feet. "Bloody quills," he muttered to himself, looking at his ink-stained hands.  
  
"If you're quite done muttering to yourself Potter." Draco drawled, "you might like to let that pathetic excuse for an owl in here. He seems quite bent on achieving such a goal." Harry opened his mouth to defend the little bird, but closed it again as his gaze came to rest on the animal in question- it was now beating his minute head against the window. Pig did look quite pathetic; he couldn't really argue that point.  
  
"Pig." he sighed. He shook his head. "Never mind. I have a feeling that the breath I use on words would be wasted." He crossed the room and opened the window. Pig shot inside, landing rather roughly against the far corner next to Draco's desk.  
  
Draco looked down at him. "Tiny little thing, aren't you," he said.  
  
"Your immediate perception of the obvious takes my breath away Malfoy," Harry said rudely.  
  
Draco nodded wisely. "Yes, well," he said. "Better to lose your breath over me than talking to this- this owl." His words betrayed the fact that he didn't really think of Pig as a real owl. Pig let out an undignified hoot at these words and struggled to right himself.  
  
Draco reached down and lifted the bird into the air by his foot. "I believe," he said, untying the letter from the enraged owl's foot, "that this belongs to you." He held the letter out disdainfully.  
  
Harry snatched the letter from him. "Of course it's mine," he said. "Any post you receive would be tied on with a golden ribbon and carried by a- a swan or something."  
  
Draco snorted. "A swan?" he said incredulously. Harry shrugged awkwardly, but his feelings of unease quickly turned to anger as Draco continued, "I do not use swans, Potter. My family uses eagles- specially bred eagle owls. Not that your good friend there could afford even a fraction of one of my trained eagle owls." his voice trailed off.  
  
"Don't make fun of Ron that way!" Harry said furiously.  
  
Draco smirked. "Why? He's so easy to make fun of."  
  
Harry felt like smoke was coming out his ears. "Don't," he said threateningly, "make fun of Ron Weasley. He's a better person than you could ever hope to be."  
  
The self-satisfied smirk flickered for an instant. "Good thing I've never hoped to be a good person then," Draco said.  
  
Harry looked at him for a second. "No," he agreed. "I don't suppose you have." He unrolled the letter.  
  
Hey Harry,  
  
Thought I'd send you a quick update on the Burrow-although you don't really deserve a letter, since you haven't written to me in forever and a day.  
  
Hermione's still here and seems to be enjoying herself. Like I mentioned earlier, she and Ginny get along quite well, actually, which is nice. On the other hand- it leaves me with no one to pass time with. Too bad Dumbledore won't let you come. Guess you're more at risk here than you are at Diagon Alley, since aren't as many certified wizards here and no Aurors, etc.  
  
Oh, about Diagon Alley- I remember the last letter you sent said you'd be going there for the last couple weeks or so of holiday, right? Mum and Dad have been thinking of coming a little early this year to get our school stuff- and then spend a coupl of nights at the Leaky Cauldron. Dad can get rooms nearly free with his Ministry connections and all. So anyway, we'll be there in about 10 days, okay? Don't die of boredom before then.  
  
Later-Ron  
A grin spread across Harry's face. The whole Weasley family and Hermione would be coming to Diagon Alley soon and he'd be able to spend nearly a week with them! Draco looked askance at the smile on Harry's face.  
  
"What's the deal, Potter? Weasel just win a lot of money, so you don't have to share yours anymore?"  
  
"You know," Harry said, refusing to rise to Draco's bait. "I've always said that a day without an insult from Malfoy is like a day without sunshine."  
  
Draco smirked, and Harry turned, picking up a new piece of parchment, to answer Ron's letter.  
  
Hey Ron,  
  
That's great that your family is coming to Diagon Alley. I could definitely use some company! Granted, Malfoy's here for some reason he won't tell me, but you know what talking to him is like. Anyway, glad to hear that all's going well at the Burrow and that Ginny and Hermione get along well. It'll do Hermione good to have some female company for once.  
  
--Harry  
  
He folded the letter up and tied it to Pig's leg. "Now don't go losing that, Pig," he admonished the tiny owl. Pig hooted indignantly and stood up to his full height of about five inches. He gave Harry a Look and then took off- and bumped into the window frame.  
  
"I really don't know about you," Harry said disgustedly to the owl, who was struggling to stand up again. "C'mere." He picked the owl up and tossed him out the window, where he was able to get some air under his wings and finally took off into the sky. Harry watched until he couldn't see him anymore, and then turned, sighing, back to his homework.  
  
I wish I could be at the Burrow, Harry thought to himself, picking up his quill again and looking at his Potions homework. He was supposed to be describing the pros and cons of the Strengthening Potion.  
  
The Strengthening Potion, Harry wrote, can be used for many good and bad things. For example, it can be used infinitely many times to strengthen the drinker, and perhaps save his life. By drinking this potion, a person can be guaranteed a longer life-span even if he is nearly dead, but--  
  
"Damn," Harry swore. Draco looked up. "This is nearly impossible."  
  
"Nothing's impossible, Potter. Look at me- who would expect so much perfection in one person?"  
  
Harry looked at him in disgust. "Oh, shut up, Malfoy. You are so arrogant, you have no idea."  
  
Draco shrugged. "I've always been under the impression I had reason to be arrogant."  
  
"You are such a-a cretin."  
  
"For I am Malfoy, King of Cretins," Draco agreed. "Let all lesser cretins bow before me."  
  
"Look," Harry said, angry at himself for not being able to finish his essay, and angry at Malfoy for being impossibly vain, "If you don't have anything helpful to say, then don't say it at all."  
  
"So-" Draco said. "Ask me a question. I'll be useful."  
  
Harry looked at him in surprise. "Did I hear you correctly? You're offering to be helpful? And you're being polite about it?"  
  
Draco shrugged again. "Least I can do. You don't tell anyone I willingly helped you and I won't tell anyone you're a moron."  
  
Harry stood up. "Malfoy, that's going too far."  
  
Malfoy looked at him calmly, ignoring Harry's c lenched fists. "Truth hurts, does it Potter?"  
  
"Sod off, Malfoy," Harry said furiously. Draco stood up and walked around Harry. Harry didn't move, afraid that if he did, he'd fly off the handle and hit Draco. Draco stooped and picked up the parchment Harry had been writing on.  
  
"Strengthening Potion," he said indifferently. "The Strengthening potion can be used for many good and bad things," he read. "Really, Potter. Anyone knows that."  
  
"I suppose you can do better?" Harry said challengingly.  
  
Draco smirked at him, and then rattled off:  
  
"The Strengthening potion is often used to keep people on the brink of death from dying. Although it does strengthen them enough to keep them living, it often takes them up to three times as long to heal as it would normally. Repeated uses of the potion can result in the drinker eventually becoming immune to it. In addition it gives the drinker a false sense of security-he feels that he can be hurt infinitely many times and not die if he has enough of the potion. Many people are not informed of the immunity that can be built up by using the potion and therefore end up dying by foolishly assuming that they are stronger than they really are. The potion is light gray in color and has no discernable taste. Side effects include lack of sleep, hallucinations-" Harry cut him off.  
  
"That's enough Malfoy. God, where did you learn that? That's not in any of the books I've read."  
  
"Have you read any?" Draco asked innocently.  
  
"Of course I've read some," Harry said defensively.  
  
"Well it wouldn't do you any good," Draco said. "That stuff about building up immunities is a little known fact. I learned it from my father. He taught me everything. Without him, I'd be normal."  
  
"Why would your father bother teaching it to you?" Harry asked. "It's not Dark Arts, is it?"  
  
"Not everything that my father taught me is Dark Arts," Draco said, looking wounded. "But yes, that potion is a form of Dark Arts." Harry snorted. Draco continued, "Years ago Death Eaters thought it was amusing to kill people by slipping that potion into the drinks of prisoners of war- and then forcing them to fight against some kind of dangerous thing- a really powerful wizard, a deadly beast, etc. When the prisoner came out victorious he was kind of on a high, if you will- and he would fight over and over again, his blood constantly supplied with more potion by the Death Eaters. Eventually they died. There was really no point in it, except for the entertainment of the Death Eaters in charge of watching the prisoners. Naturally, several, thinking they were overly powerful tried to escape, which just gave the guards license to have more fun with them, Crucio and all."  
  
Harry shook his head. "Death Eaters are twisted people," he commented with disgust. Draco stiffened, but said nothing, simply turning his head back to his work. Harry followed suit, and soon the room returned to its original silence, broken only by the sounds of scratching quills and turning pages.  
  
*--^--*  
  
"What are your parents like, anyway?" Harry asked out of the blue a few days later. "I mean, I know your father isn't the nicest of people-"  
  
"My father is fine," Draco interrupted, glaring. "What makes you think he isn't?"  
  
"Um- maybe the way he's treated me every time I've ever talked to him?" Harry countered sarcastically. "Scratch that," he said, thinking of the time Lucius Malfoy had been in Hagrid's cabin, "every time I see him, whether we interact or not. He's not exactly-nice, is he?"  
  
Draco sat silently, not answering. "Maybe not," he said at last. "But he's all I've ever known, so what else could I want?"  
  
Harry shrugged. "What about your mum? I wish I'd had a chance to know mine. What's yours like?"  
  
Draco looked calculatingly at him. "She's a fine mum," he said finally. "She does what my father tells her and she's decent to me." Harry closed his mouth before he said something that might be hurtful.  
  
He swallowed, and then ventured, "But does she-love you?"  
  
"Love?" Draco said, almost as if he'd never thought of it before. "She's never said she does. She likes me well enough, I suppose," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "We get along fine."  
  
Harry let the subject drop, but he couldn't help but feel that even as an orphan, he had had more parental love from his summer stays at the Weasleys' than Draco had had in his whole lifetime of living with both parents.  
  
~*~  
Ten days later, neither Harry nor Draco was dead, although several insults had been thrown and several punches had nearly been thrown at Draco's smug face. For the day, however, Harry had decided not to rise to the other boy's bait; instead he was looking forward to the Weasleys' arrival.  
  
"What are you pacing around the room like that for?" Draco asked Harry rudely, about five minutes before the Weasleys were supposed to arrive via Floo into a private den Harry had reserved.  
  
Harry glanced up at him. "I'm waiting for the Weasleys, genius. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm looking forward to them coming."  
  
"Weasleys means Ron," Draco said, explaining his lack of enthusiasm. "And Ron means- well, never mind that."  
  
"You just don't like him 'cause of that time he tried to beat you up every day for four years."  
  
"Yeah, I'm irrational that way," Draco agreed.  
  
"Come on," Harry said placatingly. "Ron's a good bloke."  
  
"Are you kidding?"  
  
"Yeah, it was a joke I made up," Harry said dryly.  
  
"Just think," Draco said sarcastically. "only three days to go until terms starts, and all full of Weasleys and homework. Mix in a little rectal surgery and it'll be my best three days ever." If he had planned to say anything more it was cut short by the arrival of Fred and George Weasley, roughly elbowing each other out of the way in order to get into the room first.  
  
"I stepped in first, so I should get out first!" Fred yelled childishly.  
  
"Oh yeah? Well I was born first, so I should get out first!"  
  
"Best for last!"  
  
"Bollocks!" George hollered back, tumbling at Harry's feet, covered in soot. He looked up into the amused face of his younger brother's best friend. "Ah. Harry, so very nice to see you,"  
  
"Absolutely spiffing," Fred said, jumping up and bowing low before Harry.  
  
"Hello," Harry said, grinning. "Nice to see you lot too. Your lines don't change much," he informed them as Hermione came tumbling out of the fire.  
  
"Harry!" she cried ecstatically, hugging him.  
  
"Oh yes," Fred said. "May we introduce you to the newest member of our family- Miss Hermione Granger. She seems to spend more time at our house than her own. I wouldn't introduce her except that I'm not entirely sure you'll recognize her. George here sure didn't," he said, elbowing a flushed George in the ribs.  
  
"That's enough, Fred," Hermione said, dusting off her Muggle jean shorts and t-shirt. She did indeed look a lot different than Harry was used to seeing her; her bushy brown hair was twisted in an intricate French braid that hung midway down her back. Her skin was browner than usual and her brown eyes seemed to have a gold tinge to them. Her figure had filled out quite impressively, Harry noticed, flushing as he wrenched his eyes away from her upper torso and long legs. Overall she was now one of the prettiest girls Harry knew. Apparently Draco thought so too.  
  
"Damn," he said unbelievingly, loud enough for only Harry to hear. "A good looking Muggle. That sure as hell wasn't in the brochure."  
  
Harry snorted with laughter. Despite the rudeness of all Draco's comments, Harry had to admit that they were amusing, and he had got to the point of even looking forward to the sarcastic entertainment they provided. Further thought was cut short as Ginny stepped out of the fireplace, looking none the worse for the trip.  
  
"Whoa-" Harry said, his eyes bugging out of his head. All thoughts of Hermione flew out of his head as thoughts of Ginny took their place. She's gorgeous, was all Harry's befuddled mind could think of. She was, indeed, gorgeous. Her fiery hair had grown out to waist-length. She was shorter than Harry by about five inches, standing at about five foot five, and had very decidedly grown up. The girl looking back at him now wasn't blushing, nor did she seem likely to squeal and run out of the room if she ever walked in on him again. Wow, Harry thought inarticulately.  
  
"Hello Harry," she said, smiling at him in a way that made his insides melt. Wait, he thought suddenly. What about Parvati..?  
  
Sod Parvati, another part of him said firmly. Harry shook his head. He'd think about that later. "Hello Ginny," he managed to say somewhat breathily. Draco snorted softly in the background, but as Harry turned around to glower at him, it was made obvious that Draco, too, was under Ginny's charm as well as Harry. His eyes followed her as she turned to talk to Hermione and then as she turned expectantly towards the fireplace, where Ron and his parents came through in quick succession.  
  
"Hey, Ron!" Harry said, happy to see his best friend again. Ron didn't answer, and the room went deadly quiet as he and the others caught sight of Draco, who had been standing back in the shadows, and had now stepped forward.  
  
The silence continued for a few more seconds, and finally Draco, it seemed, had had enough.  
  
"Is everyone here very stoned?" he said, breaking the ice. Ginny giggled, the twins guffawed, and even Hermione cracked a smile.  
  
"Um, look," Harry said awkwardly. "You all know Draco Malfoy-" he nodded towards Arthur and Molly Weasley- "Well-he's staying in Diagon Alley too for awhile, and he and I have been uh- passing time together, so we wouldn't die of boredom."  
  
"Um- Harry?" Ron said. "You do realize that this is the Malfoy we've hated for four years? The one with a Death Eater father?" Hermione rolled her eyes and Ginny smiled at Ron's bluntness.  
  
Draco turned to Harry. "Help me out here," he appealed. "I don't speak Loser. What did he say?"  
  
Harry groaned. Ron was taking this about as well as he had expected and Draco was not helping in the least.  
  
"Stuff it, Malfoy," he said warningly. Draco shrugged, and Harry turned back to Ron.  
  
"Look-" he searched around for the right words. "Just- trust me, all right? He's okay."  
  
Ron stared at Draco and then nodded tightly.  
  
"Yeah, fine," he said, letting them all know that he wasn't agreeing in the least. He brushed by Draco, roughly shoving him aside in his haste to exit. The others watched him go.  
  
"Well!" Mrs. Weasley said cheerfully. "That went well, didn't it?"  
  
*--^--*  
"Everyone's stuff is in their rooms, right?" Harry asked later, over dessert. He looked up, hoping to see everything all right again, but the tense silence still hung over the entire group; apparently nobody had truly accepted Draco into the group yet, teenagers or adults.  
  
Draco looked around, obviously feeling the tension in the room. "I'll just go up to my room, shall I?" he said smoothly. He was gone before anyone could say anything.  
  
"Well! Harry dear, we're all so glad to see you doing well," Mrs. Weasley broke the silence. "I believe we should all head up for bed; we have a big day of shopping ahead of us. Must be well rested, you know!" She winked cheerily and a muted thump was heard by all.  
  
"Oh! Right, Molly," Mr. Weasley said, wincing. "It's time for bed, all. Now no arguments," he said, giving Fred and George a Look. "What I say goes." Grumbling, the twins rose, preparing to head from the room. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley left, followed by their twin sons.  
  
The four remaining stayed where they were, knowing they had unspoken permission to stay up and talk for awhile.  
  
"So-" Hermione said, looking around. "Why don't we move over by the fire?" The other three agreed, standing up.  
  
"Wait," Ginny exclaimed right before sitting down in the chair across from Harry. "I'm going to let Bell out. I'm sure she'd enjoy some freedom."  
  
"Bell?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
"Bluebell," Ron said disgustedly. "Of all names for a cat."  
  
"I think it's cute," Hermione injected. She turned to Harry. "It's her new cat. She found it outside in the garden, playing with the bluebell flowers. The cat wouldn't leave, so she kept it-"  
  
"-and named it Bluebell," Ginny finished, walking into the room again, this time holding a petite orange cat. She let it jump down and it immediately jumped up onto Ginny's end of the sofa that she was sharing with Hermione and curled up, purring comfortably.  
  
"Bell!" Ginny complained. "You crazy thing, come down. That's my seat!" She picked the cat up and handed her to Harry while she situated herself in her now empty seat. Bell, undaunted by her change in position, settled down again, this time in Harry's lap.  
  
"Friendly little thing, isn't she?" Harry commented to no one in particular.  
  
"Extremely," Ginny nodded. "I've never seen her do anything the least bit mean. And she seems to love humans."  
  
"Some animals are like that," Hermione said authoritatively. Harry shrugged, scratching the cat's chin. It lifted its head up, purring loudly.  
  
"New subject," Ron declared. "Harry, what are you thinking, getting along with Malfoy?"  
  
"I'm-curious to know what's going on too," Hermione said tactfully. Ginny nodded her agreement. Harry sighed.  
  
"Look, I know it's hard for you to understand, but we just-get along for some reason. Kind of."  
  
"Malfoy's trouble Harry!" Ron said furiously. "How can you just- accept him after all the crap he's put us through? And his father, don't even get me started on him."  
  
"Ron. He and I are a lot alike." Ron sputtered, but Harry went on, "We are. We were both raised in terrible atmospheres. The only thing is, he turned out bad and I turned out good."  
  
"Oh!" Ron said brightly. "Well, if you put it that way. I guess that's easy enough to overlook."  
  
"Okay, at this point you're abusing sarcasm," Harry said, frowning. "Look, I don't know how to explain it. He's just- different. You should get to know him."  
  
Ron snorted. "Yeah, that's likely." Harry groaned inwardly.  
  
Hermione must have sensed his mood. "Ron, has Harry ever steered you wrong?" she asked.  
  
"Do you want me to answer that or shall I just glare?" Ron answered, not missing a beat.  
  
"Okay," Hermione conceded. "Maybe there was that one time with Snape and Quirrell. And the thing with Tom Riddle-Oh, and the one with Sirius and Wormtail." She trailed off as Harry glared at her. "Anyway," she hastened to add, "maybe he's right for once." Ginny giggled.  
  
"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said dryly. "It's nice to know I can always count on you to boost my ego."  
  
Hermione flushed. "I didn't mean it quite the way it sounded," she said, justifying herself. The other three grinned.  
  
"Harry," Hermione said suddenly. "I forgot, you're a little behind on the news."  
  
"What?" Harry asked, leaning forward in his chair.  
  
"I was told, since I'm going to be a prefect, and Ron," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher has been chosen." Harry groaned and Ron smirked.  
  
"Who knows," Hermione said, smiling and shrugging optimistically. "Maybe she'll stay for longer than a year this time."  
  
"Right," Ron said sarcastically. "Remember Quirrell?"  
  
"And Lockhart?" Harry added.  
  
"And Lupin?"  
  
"And Moody?"  
  
"And-" Ron shook his head. "I seem to have run out of names."  
  
"Anyway," Hermione said impatiently.  
  
"Right," Harry said, snapping back to attention. Ginny giggled and he sent a mock glare her direction. "Did you say 'she'? It's a girl?"  
  
"Well, I assume it will be a woman," Hermione corrected him, "But yes, it's a she."  
  
"And she's from Mexico," Ginny added. "Way far away." She grinned.  
  
"Mexico?" Harry asked. "So-she speaks Spanish?"  
  
"Do we have to speak Spanish when we see her?" Ron asked worriedly, but looking as though he was hiding a grin, "'Cause I don't know anything much besides 'doritos' and 'Chihuahua.'"  
  
"Doritos?" Harry asked. "How do you know about them?"  
  
"Hermione corrupted me," Ron admitted, laughing at Hermione's red cheeks.  
  
"Hush, Ron,' she said, swatting at him. "That's not corrupting you."  
  
"Of course, Hermione," Harry teased her. "We all know you couldn't corrupt anyone if your life depended on it."  
  
"Oh- you!" Hermione sat fuming in her chair, but laughed when Ron tickled her.  
  
"Why is she from Mexico, anyway?" Harry asked. "Why not someone a little- closer to home?"  
  
Hermione shrugged. "We know what we were told. That wasn't one of the things we were told. I'm assuming she's helping against Voldemort. She must be pretty high up, politically."  
  
Harry nodded. "So what other news do I have yet to hear about?"  
  
"Well-" Hermione said cautiously. "This is still pretty new and therefore confidential- but since it's you."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, Dumbledore's set up a new thing this year. We're to be taught dueling-"  
  
"Oh no," Harry moaned.  
  
"By a certified, decent teacher, Hermione assured him, smiling.  
  
"Lockhart was supposed to be certified and decent," Harry reminded her. "I've no reason to trust this person."  
  
"You'd be surprised," Ron said mildly. "He's an Auror."  
  
"An Auror?"  
  
"Pretty much full time."  
  
"Maybe the class won't be so bad after all," Harry mused.  
  
"Oh, there's going to be a ball this year," Hermione said offhandedly.  
  
"Ah- no," Harry groaned. "You can't be serious. Last year was bad enough."  
  
"I'm serious," Hermione said, smiling at his expression. "Dumbledore said it'd be a good 'morale booster,' with all that's going on lately."  
  
"I had the same reaction," Ron said, grimacing. "We males seem to have no say in what happens around Hogwarts. Females rule the roost and all that." Harry nodded in agreement.  
  
"Anyway," Ginny said, cutting in on the subject. "How did your summer go, Harry?"  
  
"Um-- great summer. I mean, as great as I can have with the Dursleys, of course." He shrugged.  
  
"How did your job go?" Hermione asked interestedly.  
  
"I enjoyed it. It wasn't exciting or anything, but it was fun. And I told you my boss's kids are Parvati and Padma, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Ron said enthusiastically. "You said they were pretty wow-looking, didn't you?"  
  
"Incredible," Harry agreed.  
  
"And here we went to the ball with them and never even cared," Ron said wistfully. Neither he nor Harry noticed the frowns exchanged between Hermione and Ginny.  
  
"Well," Hermione said, somewhat peevishly. "Ginny and I are going up to bed, if you don't mind."  
  
Ron looked at her, surprised. "What's wrong, Hermione?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing," she snapped as she and Ginny rose to leave. "If you two can't see what's staring you in the face then you don't need to be informed. Good night." Ginny nodded a goodnight to both of them and left.  
  
Ron looked at Harry in bewilderment. "What'd we do?" he asked.  
  
Harry shrugged.  
  
~*~  
  
"Wake up, Harry, Mum says we have to eat now and get our shopping done." Harry rolled over in bed, half awake. "What--?" He wasn't used to having someone in his room, but he'd offered to let Ron stay with him, as otherwise he'd have to stay with Fred and George, which, Ron pointed out, would not do wonders for his sanity.  
  
"Mum," Ron said impatiently. "She says we have to get our shopping done. Said it'll take a long time today or something. Dunno why we have to get up so early. Nearly the crack of dawn, it is."  
  
"What time is it?"  
  
"Nearly noon," Ron grinned.  
  
Harry groaned and threw a pillow at his best friend. "What were you thinking, waking me up so early?" he said accusingly.  
  
Ron dodged the pillow and laughed. "Get up, mate. You've slept long enough."  
  
"Wonder if the girls are still angry at us," Harry said, pulling on his clothes.  
  
Ron shrugged. "Probably, but they'll get over it. They're females, you'll never figure them out. I can't." Harry nodded in agreement. "What did Hermione mean though, 'what's staring us in our faces?'"  
  
Harry shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea," he said fervently. "Girls never make sense."  
  
"Too true," Ron empathized.  
  
~*~  
"Ready to go shopping?" Hermione asked as they came downstairs. Ron shot Harry a Look as if to say "See, I told you they'd get over it."  
  
"Soon," Harry answered her. "I'm starving, myself."  
  
"Well that's to be expected. It's nearly lunchtime. Tom set out some food for us in the dining room. Ginny and I had breakfast a few hours ago, but we're ready for lunch, so-" She shrugged. The four of them headed for the dining room.  
  
"Ah, dessert!" George said gleefully as they walked in.  
  
"Are you serious?" Ginny asked, arching an eyebrow. Harry smirked to himself. If anyone could handle the twins, it seemed, it was their little sister. Just like her mother, he thought. The two were a lot alike.  
  
"Not you," Fred assured her. "I'm sure he was referring to Hermione. Although he was probably picturing her complete with the whipped cream and chocolate syrup." George turned bright red and Ron and Harry guffawed. Ginny was hard put to keep a straight face, and Hermione just looked enraged.  
  
"Have some class," she snapped at Fred as she took a seat at the opposite end of the table. "And leave your poor brother alone. He didn't say anything about whipped cream and syrup-you came up with that. Get your mind out of the gutter." Fred's mouth opened soundlessly and Harry, Ron and Ginny collapsed into their chairs laughing helplessly. George looked gratefully at Hermione.  
  
"Mm, looks good," Ron said, looking appreciatively at the plain but tasty-looking food before him.  
  
"I fully agree," Harry said, tucking in.  
  
"Ginny and I have to get new dress robes today," Hermione said a few minutes later, swallowing a drink of water. "I'm assuming you two need some? You've both shot up a ways."  
  
"Naw," Ron said. "Fred and George got me some for some reason. No complaints though," he added quickly, looking down the table at his brothers. "They're very nice robes."  
  
"I do," Harry said. "My old ones are seven, eight inches too short. I've grown six inches since the ball last year, give or take. And I'm not done yet, I'm assuming. I'd better get extra long ones so I don't outgrow them by the time the ball comes around this year." He stood up, the other three following suit, as they walked out of the room. They unconsciously fell into sets of two: Ron and Hermione, Harry and Ginny.  
  
"My old ones still fit, but Fred and George decided to get me some new ones too- and they don't know much about girl clothes, so they just gave me the money," Ginny said. "I've grown a little but they were long last year. I think I've stopped now though, for the most part."  
  
"I have a feeling I've stopped too," Hermione agreed. "Ron and Harry, however," she said, looking over at Harry, who stood over her five foot four frame at five foot ten and up at Ron beside her, who towered over her at nearly six feet already. "Ron and Harry will probably keep going. You two make me feel tiny," she directed at them, and they grinned somewhat guiltily.  
  
"I've no problem with that," Ginny smiled. "Styles are tall, shoe- wise, Hermione. How bad can it be if we can wear tallest shoes we want and the boys are still taller than us? Personally," she concluded, "I like being a lot shorter than boys."  
  
"I've nothing against you being short," Harry said, putting an arm around her shoulders and squeezing. She fit perfectly under his arm, and he wouldn't have minded walking that way for awhile, but looking at the scowl on Ron's face, he knew that wouldn't be a good idea. He dropped his arm, flushing at his forwardness and Ginny smiled up at him, eyes shining.  
  
"All right, so dress robes first," Hermione decided, not noticing the previous tension. "Come on," she ordered, leading the way to.  
  
"This isn't Madam Malkin's," Harry observed.  
  
"Really," Hermione said dryly.  
  
"It's Golden Opportunity," Ginny explained. "It's one of the nicest dress robe stores around. Madam Malkin's is fine for everyday stuff, but for dress robes." She trailed off.  
  
"They have the largest selection around," Hermione said happily.  
  
Ron looked at her in alarm. "Hermione," he said, "You never care about how you look."  
  
"Get lost Ron," she said, only half seriously. "I'm a girl, and all girls have a girly side to them. I'm not always studying, despite popular opinion." Ron grinned rather foolishly and didn't argue, following her and his sister into the store, leaving Harry to follow at his own pace. Harry hurried to catch up.  
  
"We need dress robes for the Yule Ball at Hogwarts," Hermione said to the lady at the front counter. "Could you possibly-help us out, find some things that would look good on us? Neither of us have done too much of this before."  
  
"I thought girly girls knew what looked good," Ron said fiendishly. Hermione shot him a Look and elbowed him in the ribs.  
  
"Part of the fun of shopping for stuff like this is getting someone to wait on you. If you're going to make wisecracks, just-- get lost. No-" she changed her mind, "Come inside with us. Your opinions are going to be expected." Ron groaned and Harry joined him.  
  
"Oh, hush," Ginny ordered. "You asked for it. Now come on, it won't be that bad."  
  
"No," Ron whispered to Harry as they followed her to a bench outside the fitting rooms. "It'll be worse."  
  
"I whole heartedly agree," Harry said, flopping on the bench and getting situated for a long afternoon of sitting.  
Five minutes later, Ron was already complaining.  
  
"This is so pointless!" he declared, not at all quietly.  
  
"Oh Ron," Hermione said in a sing-song voice from the fitting rooms. "Ready to see the first one?"  
  
Ron rolled his eyes at Harry. "Yes Hermione," he said, as though agreeing to killing himself. Harry allowed himself a slight smile, knowing full well that no matter how much both of them complained, they would both be thrown for a loop when they actually saw the girls.  
  
"Good. I'm coming out, and I want an opinion. Scratch that- we're coming out." She and Ginny exited the fitting rooms, both walking over to the wall across from the bench the boys were seated on and looking at themselves in the full length mirrors found there.  
  
"Well?" Ginny asked, shy for the first time since Harry had seen her this summer.  
  
Harry moved his mouth, but couldn't seem to get any words out, and Ron seemed to be in the same predicament. He finally managed to get a word out.  
  
"Wow," he said. Ron nodded from beside him, obviously not in control of his voice yet.  
  
Harry knew that Ginny had grown quite beautiful over the summer, but this was just-wow. He'd never realized that she had so much-skin. She wasn't tan, like Hermione was; in fact she was a creamy white, with a smattering of freckles all over her back and arms and face. The robes she was wearing were cream colored, fairly high cut in front, and held up by a spaghetti strap halter. The back, however, was what had Harry floored; it wasn't there. From the spaghetti strap around her neck down to the waistline there wasn't anything covering the wide expanse of back that Harry suddenly wanted to feel. She blushed under his gaze and turned to Ron.  
  
"So, Ron?" she asked. "What do you think?" Ron didn't answer, just nodded without even looking at her. He was still transfixed by Hermione, who seemed to be enjoying the attention. She was wearing bright red, streamlined robes that skimmed her body all the way down, although they weren't tight. They were held up by a strap that crossed her right shoulder diagonally; the strap also went across her back, cutting the expanse of browned skin into two parts- the shoulders and from mid back to her waist. The bottom touched the floor even with the tall black sandals she had on.  
  
"Glad to know you approve," Hermione smirked and Ginny smiled at the comment.  
  
"Are you sure-that those are actually robes?" Harry asked hesitantly. They looked like there was too much missing to be called 'robes.'  
  
"Yes," Hermione said carelessly. "They're not actual robes, per se, but that's what they're called, since we're witches. Technically they're nothing more than a Muggle prom dress."  
  
"Ah. Right."  
  
An hour later Harry had lost his power of speech again and Ron had never regained his. As they walked out of the store the fresh air seemed to revive both of them and Harry turned to look at Hermione.  
  
"Did you two find something you liked?" he asked, carefully not looking at Ginny, afraid that he would be reminded of her in that first dress.  
  
"Yes." Hermione looked pleased.  
  
"Which ones?"  
  
"Oh, you haven't seen them yet. We didn't want you to see them before the ball."  
  
"Why? Will we not like them?"  
  
"Oh no," Ginny smirked at both of the boys. "I'm sure you'll like them." Ron flushed as Hermione caught his eye and grinned slyly.  
  
"Erm-who wants ice cream?" Harry asked quickly. "My treat."  
  
"Well well, look who's here," a familiar voice drawled as they walked into Florian's ice cream parlor.  
  
"Malfoy," Harry nodded his acknowledgement. "Come to join us?" He could sense Ron stiffen from behind him but ignored it.  
  
"Seeing as since you left without me this morning I'm guessing you'd rather I didn't," Draco answered.  
  
"Don't be dumb, come sit with us," Ginny said cheerfully. Ron scowled, and Harry was surprised. As the four of them piled into a booth Ginny bumped his arm and he could feel how tense she actually was. Draco pulled a chair up to the end of the table.  
  
"I've come to bug the hell out of you," he announced to Ron. Ron scowled, if possible, even more fiercely, but said nothing.  
  
"Um- right," Hermione said, somewhat unsure of how to handle the situation.  
  
"So," Ginny said before the silence got too ominous. "Who wants what?" Harry shot her a grateful look and she returned it with a small smile before turning to look at her menu.  
  
"My thoughts exactly," said the waiter who was standing by their table. "What can I get for all of you?"  
  
"Chocolate shake, please."  
  
"Hot fudge sundae."  
  
"Banana split."  
  
"The super sundae."  
  
"Vanilla ice cream and syrup," Draco told the man.  
  
"What kind?" the waiter asked, pen poised.  
  
"Vanilla, I just told you," Draco answered somewhat rudely.  
  
"I meant what kind of syrup," the waiter said patiently.  
  
"Syrups have kinds?"  
  
"Duh, Malfoy," Ron said.  
  
"Well who needs any flavor besides chocolate?" Draco said with a haughty look. "I've never needed anything else. Chocolate," he told the waiter, who left to fill their orders.  
  
"So, um, Malfoy," Hermione said tentatively. "What are you doing in Diagon Alley this summer?" She didn't see Harry shaking his head until after she'd said it. Draco's reaction was much different than it had been previously, however.  
  
"Business," he answered smoothly. "My father had some stuff to do and decided I could help him out. I decided to make a miniature holiday out of it. Although with the company I've had it hasn't exactly been restful."  
  
"That was rude," Harry interrupted him.  
  
Ron looked at Harry as if he'd gone crazy. "Since when has that stopped him?"  
  
"Good point."  
  
"What was rude?" Draco asked innocently. "Don't jump to conclusions, Potter."  
  
"I didn't jump to conclusions. I took a small step, and conclusions there were," Harry retorted.  
  
Draco shrugged. "Your prerogative."  
  
"Draco, be nice," Ginny said. Harry was surprised at how self- confident she was now. She wasn't at all afraid to stand up for what was right. Wonder when she grew up, he wondered.  
  
"I don't play well with others," Draco answered, eating a spoonful of ice cream. "Surely you've noticed that by now."  
  
"You get along fine with Crabbe and Goyle," Harry pointed out.  
  
"A very acute observation," Draco agreed. "Now stand still while I hit you." Ginny snorted with laughter. Draco glanced at her, then continued, "Those two idiots happen to have parents that are friends of my father. Unfortunately. It has nothing to do with whether I get along with them or not. It's my job to get along with them." No one was quite sure what they should say to that, so no one said anything.  
"We still have to get all of our school stuff," Hermione said, standing up and wiping her mouth with her napkin. "Mrs. Weasley asked us to hurry and it's already four and we've got dress robes and ice cream. We're behind, just a little."  
  
"All right." Harry stood to pay the bill and the rest of them collected their packages and cloaks. "Where to first?" he asked.  
  
"Flourish and Blotts," Hermione said instantly. "Books first." Ron followed her out the door, as did Ginny.  
  
"You coming, Malfoy?" Harry asked.  
  
Draco looked askance at him. "Are you serious, Potter? They hate me, there's no reason for me to go."  
  
Harry sighed. "Look, Malfoy. Try to understand. You've been trash to them the whole time they've known you. Granted they weren't nice to you, but you definitely instigated it. Ron's not thrilled with you, I'll give you that, but Ginny's fine, and Hermione is wary, but she'll accept you if you give her a reason to. Just-be decent. You'll win them over eventually." Draco said nothing, but he nodded.  
  
"And-" Harry added, "I have a feeling that you wouldn't know what to do if Ron accepted you anyway. You enjoy bugging him." Draco grinned, a real grin, and Harry returned it. It was once in awhile, at times like these, that he felt hope that maybe the other boy could turn out good after all.  
  
~*~  
"Did everyone get absolutely everything they need?" Mrs. Weasley asked concernedly later that night after dessert.  
  
"Yes Mum," Fred and George chorused.  
  
"And how much that you don't need?" Mrs. Weasley asked suspiciously.  
  
"Um-"  
  
"Never mind, I don't want to know. Harry, Hermione dears, you got everything you need.?"  
  
"Yes Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said, smiling reassuringly at the older woman. "We're all set. I made sure. Even Draco has his things. We all went shopping together."  
  
Mrs. Weasley turned to Draco, who was sitting in a chair a bit apart from the rest of the group which was gathered around the huge fire. "Draco- it's all right if I call you that?" At Draco's nod, she continued, "Come closer to the fire dear, it's so hard to talk to you all the way over there." Draco looked startled but obediently scooted his chair over to the spot in the circle it had originally come from, between the couch Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sharing and the chair Harry was sitting in.  
  
They all sat companionably, discussing their day and their purchases. Ginny and Hermione were getting a little giggly with Mrs. Weasley about the robes they had purchased and still neglected to describe to Ron and Harry.  
  
Ron, Harry and Draco had got into a heated argument over which Quidditch team was better, the Chudley Cannons, or Draco's apparent favorite, the Kestrels. Ron had forgotten his inhibitions about the other boy for the time being. Quidditch, Harry mused, was probably the only thing that could have accomplished such a feat. The two sat comfortably in their chairs arguing quite loudly. Added to the laughter from the females and the conspiracies of Fred and George, the noise level continued to rise.  
  
Mr. Weasley finally cleared his throat. "If we could have a little quiet," he requested. Everyone quieted down almost immediately. "Thank you," he said, smiling calmly at them all. "It's quite late," he continued, looking at the clock on the wall, that declared the time to be nearly midnight, "and we all have to get up fairly early tomorrow. The Ministry is providing cars for us, for those of you who don't already know, and we'll be leaving at around eight. The train leaves earlier this year, due to security measures."  
  
Mrs. Weasley stood up. "Off to bed dears," she told them all. "That means all of you tonight," she said, glancing at the four who had stayed up the previous night. All of them stood up and made to exit the room.  
  
"Oh- you'll be riding with us tomorrow, of course, right Draco?" Mrs. Weasley asked.  
  
"I- I guess so," Draco said, caught off guard.  
  
"All right then," Mr. Weasley said, clapping him on the shoulder as he turned to leave.  
  
"Goodnight," Mrs. Weasley told each of them in turn, hugging each of them as they walked by.  
  
"Goodnight, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, quite enjoying the motherly hug and the feeling of family around him. As he turned to leave the room he noticed Mrs. Weasley looking thoughtfully at Draco, and then giving him a quick hug too. Draco looked as though he wasn't quite sure what to make of it, although he did eventually loosen up and allow himself to be folded in.  
  
He and Harry walked together up to their rooms, saying nothing. Harry could tell that the hug had deeply affected the other boy, even if Draco wasn't yet aware of it. He hadn't, Harry supposed, ever been subjected to the real love of a mother; another similarity between them.  
  
"Harry," he said, looking as though he didn't want to continue but didn't know how to stop. "I don't know how to say this, but-"  
  
"But what?'  
  
"What-what was that? I mean, they're the Weasleys. Our families have been enemies forever. Why are they accepting me like this?"  
  
Harry shrugged. "Maybe they've been your enemies. You haven't been their enemy, as far as I know. Granted, none of their kids like you, but you haven't really done anything to help that along until now. As for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley- they're some of the best people I've ever met in my life and I'm proud to know them. They don't hold grudges and they won't hate you just because you're a Malfoy."  
  
Draco nodded, as though contemplating what Harry had just said.  
  
"Don't knock it 'til you've tried it, Malfoy," Harry advised him. "Let yourself enjoy it and maybe you can turn into someone you can be proud of."  
  
He entered his room and left Draco standing in the hall, at loss for words. 


End file.
